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Noise activist raps airline plan
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A north East Valley aviation noise activist warned that a commercial airline at Scottsdale Airport would increase the area’s traffic, hurt established businesses and — naturally — add noise.
"It doesn’t pass the smell test," said John Hoeppner, a Cave Creek resident who lives under the airport’s flight path.
The criticism came after a new company, Scottsdale West Airlines, announced it is looking to set up scheduled commercial flights to and from the airport by the end of next year.
The airline’s officials said they understand noise will be their biggest challenge to obtaining community acceptance of their plan.
That’s why the company wants to lease Stage 4 aircraft, which have the quietest jet engines on the market, said John Pearsall, Scottsdale West’s CEO.
"This airplane is a super-quiet aircraft," Pearsall said.
Scottsdale West proposes 24 daily flights at the city-operated airport, roughly 10,000 a year.
Scott Gray, Scottsdale aviation director, said he believes that as the commercial operation grows, the charter and private flights that make up nearly all of Scottsdale Airport’s operations would decrease.
"We could see an actual drop in operations over time, rather than an increase," he said.
Noise complaints have gone up dramatically in recent years, city records show. Yet the vast majority of those have been reported by just four individuals, some of whom are mainly upset with helicopter noise.
The airport neighbors’ complaints are often well-founded, said Phil Vickers, a former Scottsdale Airport Advisory Commission member. However, the problems are typically prompted by helicopters and older, noisier Stage 2 aircraft.
Even with the quieter aircraft, some complaints are inevitable, said J. Michael Donahoe, Scottsdale West’s owner.
"There’s some people — you could fly gliders in and out of there and they’d complain," he said.
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