One person complained 1,707 times about airport noise, but calls down overall
Posted Mar 20, 2017 12:52 pm.
Last Updated Mar 20, 2017 12:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Water fountains are coming to the new terminal of YYC Calgary International Airport and at least a few people are still very frustrated with the noise coming from planes.
The airport authority presented a report to city council on Monday and new CEO Bob Sartor spoke about addressing customer service issues, such as the common complaint that there are not enough water fountains in the new leg of the facility.
The airport also fielded 1,707 complaints from one caller last year, while another complained 1,094 times.
“Our noise calls have gone down considerably, as I said earlier, from everyone other than eight people,” said Sartor.
Noise abatement initiatives in the area of the airport worked to make landings quieter, while also conserving fuel and lowering emissions.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi asked about thinning out flight paths, which would see fewer people impacted, but the rest would see more air traffic flying over.
“They are already fairly narrow, they could be narrowed further still potentially, obviously it would affect some municipalities far more than others,” explained Sartor. “But, your honour, the actual flight paths are remarkably tight, particularly for the north-south runways, which [are] the runways that get used 98 per cent of the time.”
Council was also told about YYC’s partnership with CEOs from Vancouver and Ottawa to speak against selling airports to private investors, stating airport privatization is “a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”
The federal Liberals are studying the option and Sartor is meeting with the Minister of Transport soon.
