Connecticut towns fighting flights
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Stacey Vanek-Smith: We still have a couple weeks of summer left. That’s peak travel season. With big crowds and of course, long waits. Now the government wants to improve the notorious delay situation at airports in the New York area. Part of the plan involves rerouting flights, and that’s ruffling some very affluent feathers. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: Ridgefield, Connecticut is one of several towns that’s suing the FAA for trying to shift the flight paths.
Rudy Marconi is Ridgefield’s top official. He admits his resistance may sound a little selfish. Still:
Rudy Marconi: That’s no reason for us to sit back and say that’s fine, relocate 150 to 300 flights a day right down the throat of Fairfield County. We’re not gonna be that easy and we’re not gonna accept that.
Marconi says the FAA hasn’t explored all the alternatives. But Michael E. Levine of the NYU School of Law says the Connecticut towns may see planes thousands of feet overhead, but they’ll barely hear them.
Michael Levine: A modern jet airliner flying over at that altitude makes what you could call background noise.
Levine says the proposed changes will mean more noise for some areas near Newark. He says the lawsuits are holding up the FAA’s plan to reduce delays, and that’s bad for everyone.
In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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