Overview
- Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego sent a joint letter in early August urging FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford to revise the Phoenix Area Modernization Project because the agency’s own data estimate 86,384 people would see reportable noise increases.
- The senators asked the FAA to keep Sky Harbor’s 43rd Avenue and 4DME noise-abatement gates, adopt dispersed or rotational routings to avoid concentrating traffic over neighborhoods, and meet with local leaders before finalizing procedures.
- The FAA has delayed the project’s target implementation to June 10, 2027 to review public comments after a surge of feedback in June and July about proposed satellite‑guided Performance‑Based Navigation routings.
- Performance‑Based Navigation uses satellite guidance to tighten flight tracks for safety and efficiency, but that concentration of traffic can raise noise in specific neighborhoods by measurable decibel amounts.
- The request recalls the 2014 Sky Harbor dispute and the Phoenix v. Huerta court ruling, and the senators want a revised draft environmental assessment that responds to public comments to reduce legal and community conflict.