2020 Presentations

Presentation Abstracts are listed in order of occurrence at the conference. You can view the full print program here


Pre-Symposium Meetings

Community Group Meeting

PDF of presentation: HMMH and MONA - Data Sources and Data Analysis

Trainings:

Noise 101

By Greg Maxwell, Casper and Steve Alverson, Environmental Science Associates

Learn about noise issues in the Aviation Sector. We will go over the history of noise in aviation, basic noise metrics, regulations, how to quantify aircraft noise, abatement, communications and tools used by the industry.

PDF of Presentations: Part 1: Evolution, Part 2: Quantification, Part 3: Regulation, Part 4: Principles, Part 5: Science & Performance

FAA Environmental Review

By John Brandt, MITRE Corporation, Jorge Rodriguez-Cifuentes, The MITRE Corporation & Ryan Weller, Federal Aviation Administration

Review NEPA Statutes, Regulations and FAA Policy, Environmental Reviews, Environmental Impact Categories, Environmental Impact Analysis - Noise, FAA Roles & Responsibilities. 

PDF of Presentation


General Sessions

Better Together ... Seriously!: Observations on Collaboration to Address Aviation Noise & Emissions

By: Dennis Probst, San Diego International Airport

Airports and surrounding communities have a herculean task ahead of them – how to address growing aviation noise and emission impacts as air travel demand from those same communities increase as well.  While there are no quick and easy solutions to solving these issues, there are some critical ways that all stakeholders can collaborate to make progress on them.  Dennis Probst, an executive leader at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, will share observations from his 20-plus years’ experience spearheading airport programs and policies at San Diego International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport that have focused on noise mitigation and air quality improvement.  In addition to highlighting successes, Dennis will speak to important lessons learned, especially related to effectively engaging community members and other key stakeholders.   


Successful Practices to Improve Community Engagement

Chaired By: Jason Schwartz, ABCx2 & Ian Jopson, NATS

For aviation to operate and to meet the growing global demand sustainably, the industry needs to establish trust and understanding among its stakeholders and that of course includes impacted communities.  But how best to do this?  One thing is for sure, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.  This session seeks to provide delegates with a broad range of insights from around the world to equip us with some clear and actionable learning about what works, what may not, and how we can be more effective in community outreach and engagement.


Effective Engagement and Consultation for Airspace Change 

By: Gordon Ferguson, Heathrow Airport PLC

Summary:  Describes how Heathrow Airport delivers the wide and varied successful practises of community engagement activities. This is conducted by utilising a broad range of tools and techniques to enable the stakeholder to experience an innovative journey in understanding the impacts of aircraft noise.

Click here to access the PDF Presentation


An Adaptive and Collaborative Approach to Airspace Change

By: Jonathan Bagg, NavCanada

In this presentation, Jonathan will provide an overview of some of NAV CANADA’s key stakeholder relations principles, share examples where the Canadian ANS is evolving its approach to engagement in regards to airspace change initiatives and share some lessons learned.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Successful Community Engagement

By: John Stewart, Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (HACAN) 

Summary: The presentation looks at what successful community engagement looks like.  It focuses on the situation on the UK, and particularly at Heathrow.  It traces the way in which Heathrow began to engage much more successfully with its local communities.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


FAA’s Noise Complaint Initiative (NCI) Overview

By: Terry English, Federal Aviation Administration

SummaryThe FAA’s Noise Complaint Initiative (NCI) was implemented to improve agency-wide procedures and systems to more efficiently and effectively respond to public aircraft noise complaints and inquiries.  This presentation will provide an overview of the elements of the NCI and FAA’s plans for the initiative going forward.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Noise and Emissions Legislation: The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act and What Congress and FAA have been up to since

Chaired By: Veronica Bradley, Airlines for America & Jennifer Landesmann, Sky Posse Palo Alto

The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act contains over 20 provisions related to aviation noise and emissions. This Congress has also introduced more than 10 aviation noise bills. This conversation-style session will provide a discussion on how communities advocate for legislative answers to their noise concerns, how industry perspectives impact legislative outcomes, and how FAA implements the final law, all using examples from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, current pending legislation in Congress, and long-standing FAA research programs.


Presentation 1

By: Janet McEneaney, Queens Quiet Skies

Presentation 2

By: Melinda Pagliarello, ACI-NA

Presentation 3

By: Donald Scata, Federal Aviation Administration

Presentation 4

By: Craig Wilsey, Program Manager, Boeing Research & Technology

Presentation 5

By: Jose Alonso, Acoustic Specialist, Collins Aerospace


Assessing Health Effects of Aviation Noise & Emissions 

Chaired By: Justin Cook, HMMH & Mary Ellen Eagan, HMMH


National Sleep Study on the Effects of Aircraft Noise on Sleep: Results of two Pilot Field Studies

By: Mathias Basner, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Summary: Aircraft noise can disrupt sleep and impair recuperation. The last U.S. investigation on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep was conducted more than 20 years ago. Since then, traffic patterns and noise levels produced by single aircraft have changed substantially. It is therefore important that field studies be conducted in the U.S. to acquire current data on sleep disturbance relative to varying degrees of aircraft noise exposure. Study designs used during two pilot field studies around Philadelphia and Atlanta airports were adapted and refined for this National Sleep Study. The research methodology, acquiring acoustical and physiological data (heart rate and body movements) with no investigator on site and equipment mailed to participants, was found to be feasible. Power calculations were conducted using simulations of expected sleep period times and 2018 air traffic density data. This study will provide key insights into the effects of aircraft noise on objectively and subjectively assessed sleep disturbance.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Long-term aircraft noise exposure and the risk of hypertension in national US studies

By: Junenette Peters, Boston University School of Public Health

Summary: Aircraft noise is an ongoing concern for communities surrounding airports. Some studies report associations of noise with hypertension, yet establishing causation is difficult as few were longitudinal. This talk reports preliminary results of the evaluation of the relationship between long-term aircraft noise exposure and the risk of hypertension in national U.S. cohorts of women.

Presentation PDF unavailable


New recommendations from WHO regarding aircraft noise annoyance is not supported by existing evidence

By: Truls Gjestland, SINTEF

Summary: The World Health Organization has recently presented new recommendations for aircraft noise exposure to avoid adverse health effects. The new limit is Ldn 45 dB which is about one order of magnitude lower than the previous WHO recommendation.

WHO's new limit is based on a re-analysis of a narrow selection of post-2000 noise annoyance surveys. Only half of these surveys were conducted according to standard procedures.

A similar re-analysis of a much larger selection of noise surveys, all of which followed standardized survey methods, indicates that there has been no change in people's reactions to aircraft noise across the past half century. For a given noise exposure people today are equally annoyed by aircraft noise as they were 50 years ago. The well-documented exposure-response functions established by Miedema and Vos in 1998, are still valid. The new WHO recommendation is not supported by existing evidence. 

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Non-acoustic Factors in Aircraft Noise Impacts

Chaired By: Jason Schwartz, ABCx2  & Anne Kohut, Airport Noise Report/Aviation Emissions Report

We all know that aircraft noise causes annoyance. But what many people don’t know is that so-called “non-acoustic” factors can be more important than actual noise level in triggering the annoyance response. This session will explain what non-acoustic factors of aircraft annoyance are and how a better understanding of them will aid airports and policy-makers in reducing annoyance.


The implications of non-acoustic factors for airport communication and engagement

By: Paul Hooper, Manchester Metropolitan University

Summary: This paper presents findings from the EU Horizon 2020 funded research project Aviation Noise Impact Management through Novel Approaches (ANIMA), which seeks to develop new methodologies, approaches and tools to managing aviation noise impact. Specifically, this paper looks to appreciate the how an understanding of the role acoustic and non-acoustic contributors to annoyance, reported in a separate paper presented at this conference, can inform a more comprehensive approach to aircraft noise impact mitigation.
The subjective nature of the annoyance response is acknowledged and used to explain why noise exposure itself can only explain around 30% of annoyance responses observed in surveys. Consequently, increasing attention has turned to the role of non-acoustic factors in determining levels of community annoyance. This has helped to identify a number of contributors to annoyance, such as perceptions of trust, fairness, and attitudes towards the source of the noise, which may be amenable to airport interventions. The paper explores how dedicated communication and engagement activities undertaken by airports as part of a comprehensive Balanced Approach could be designed in such a way as to positively influence these non-acoustic factors and thereby potentially reduce community annoyance.
The paper identifies key features of communication and engagement that might best allow for the dialogue necessary to influence perceptions and attitudes. Highlighting the importance of comprehensible noise descriptors and opportunities for meaningful engagement on issues that materially affect the outcomes for noise-affected communities.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


From Annoyance to Understanding: Initiatives to address Community Annoyance

By: Robyn Connelly, Toronto Pearson International Airport

Summary: While airplanes have gotten much quieter, community complaints and concerns are not reducing, in fact they seem to be on the increase. Why aren’t we seeing a reduction in noise annoyance? Research is telling us that noise reduction is not leading to an annoyance reduction. This suggests that annoyance comes from perception and interpretation, not just the noise exposure itself. This presentation will share the programs Toronto Pearson is building to address the non-acoustic factors of annoyance and build more collaborative relationships with the community.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Addressing aircraft noise annoyance - Why non-acoustic factors matter

By: Dirk Schreckenberg, ZEUS GmbH, Center for Applied Psychology, Environmental and Social Research

Summary: Annoyance is one of the most prominent community responses to aircraft noise. There is no unique definition of annoyance. However, on the basis of expert interviews three components have been identified as underlying the annoyance judgments: (1) the experience of an often repeated noise-related disturbance and the behavioral response to it, (2) an emotional/attitudinal response to the sound and its disturbing impact, (3) the distressful insight that one cannot do much against the noise situation (perceived loss of control). These components are similar to those underlying stress responses of human-beings. For noise annoyance this means that it is a result of sound as an environmental demand and the capacity to cope with it. Perhaps, this is why acoustic as well as non-acoustic factors are associated with noise annoyance. It is generally acknowledged that up to 1/3 of the variance of noise annoyance is explained by the average sound level, up to another 1/3 by non-acoustic factors, the rest is unexplained. Some authors identified social-related factors such as attitudes towards the source, perceived fairness of decision procedures, and the trust in authorities to be (a) important contributors to annoyance and (b) modifiable by external noise management. In his model of noise annoyance Stallen explains the importance of these factors in terms of their impact on perceived control of residents, i.e. the perceived capacity to cope with the noise situation. Recent studies confirmed that attitudinal non-acoustic factors have a higher impact on the annoyance component ‘perceived coping capacity’ than on the annoyance component ‘disturbance/interference due to the sound’. The ongoing European project ANIMA investigates novel approaches of aviation noise impact management.  First project results strengthen that in addressing non-acoustic factors by airport noise management there is considerable potential to improve the reduction of aircraft noise annoyance.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Incorporating Non-Acoustic Factors in Aircraft Noise Regulatory Policy

By: Sanford Fidell, Fidell Associates, Inc.

Summary: FAA cites a 1992 technical report as providing the technical rationale for its current policies for disclosing noise impacts and managing the long-term, cumulative noise exposure that airport operations produce in nearby neighborhoods.  The 1992 report identifies the prevalence of a consequential degree of noise-induced annoyance as the primary effect of aircraft noise exposure, and sets threshold levels of cumulative noise exposure at 5 dB exposure intervals for purposes of defining “significant” noise impacts, and for its recommendations of airport-compatible land uses.  In reality, these policies considerably antedate the 1992 report; were formulated long prior to the 1996 revocation of FAA’s congressional charter to promote civil aviation; and are based on obsolete information that does not withstand modern technical scrutiny.

As is apparent from continuing, widespread public opposition to capacity-enhancing airport development projects, FAA noise regulatory policy rarely accomplishes its own goals.  FAA’s insistence on a “one-size-fits-all” dosage-response relationship in all communities, and its underlying assumption that cumulative noise exposure is the sole determinant of community response to aircraft noise, are among the major inadequacies of its noise regulatory policy.  This presentation describes a systematic approach to revising the technical bases of regulation which acknowledges the influence of non-acoustic factors in community response to aircraft noise exposure.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Emerging Airspace Entrants

Chaired By: Yolanka Wulff, Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) & Dave Carbone, LGN Aviation Policy Group & NOISE

Learn about how air traffic management concepts and new aircraft navigation technologies are being leveraged to lessen aircraft noise and emissions impacts on the communities surrounding airports.


Environmentally Sustainable “Green Speed”

By: Gene Holloway, Aerion Supersonic

Summary: Is “green speed” possible? Aerion believes that it is and is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in the production and operation of the world’s first supersonic business jet. This presentation will discuss Aerion’s overall objectives, challenges, and approach to realizing this goal.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Shaping a Sustainable Future for Aerospace: The Path to Electrification

By: Dahlia Pham, AMPAIRE

Summary: Ampaire is a Los Angeles-based company developing practical, compelling electric aircraft. Currently, Ampaire has successfully retrofit a Cessna 337 Skymaster with a hybrid-electric propulsion system that first few in May 2019. This session will give a brief overview of the programs at Ampaire to highlight the company's "scaled approach" to electrification, highlight the challenges and benefits from aircraft electrification such as reduced noise and emissions, and discuss the path forward for hybrid-electric/electric aircraft in terms of engineering and certification.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Urban Air Mobility - Adding the Third Dimension to Urban and Regional Transportation

By: Yolanka Wulff, Community Air mobility Initiative 

Summary: Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is the addition of the third dimension into urban and regional transportation. The Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop and provide education and resources to state and local decision makers, and the public, about this new form of transportation. This session will examine the growing UAM landscape from the perspective of noise and emissions considerations that arise when we integrate aviation into existing and future metropolitan transportation systems.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Environmentally Sustainable "Green Speed"

By: Matt Metcalfe, Deloitte

SummaryDeloitte is working with the NASA to develop a Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Community Concept of Operations that draws insights from across a broad cross section of the aviation Ecosystem. This session briefly summarizes the effort and  focuses on one of the key pillars - community integration. Urban Air Mobility represents an exciting paradigm shift, taking aviation from a predominantly long-distance public transportation mode to an integral component of regional and local mobility. While industry and governments mature Urban Air Mobility capabilities there is recognition that it will to bring aviation much closer to local communities than ever before and that careful and thoughtful engagement will be needed. Experience has shown that communities have a strong interest in any changes to their neighborhoods including those above them. What lessons learned can be drawn from aviation and other industries and principals should guide UAM sector consider and what strategies and approaches should be employed.  

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Air Traffic Noise & Emissions Management in Practice

Chaired By: Veronica Bradley, Airlines for America & Steve Alverson, Environmental Science Associates


Aircraft Noise Management at Helsinki Airport

By: Samu Tuparinne, Finavia

Summary: The presentation provides an overview of aircraft noise management at Helsinki Airport. The airport is expanding with growing numbers of passengers. Aircraft noise management needs to respond various needs and requirements. As examples of applied means of noise management at the airport the presentation explains the noise optimized use of runways, implementation of a noise abatement departure procedure and activities carried out to improve continuous descent operations and noise optimized arrivals. It is also important to communicate airport operations transparently to public.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


The O'Hare Fly Quiet Runway Rotation Program: It's Development, Testing, Approval and Implementation 

By: Arlene A. Juracek, O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission

Summary: The O'Hare Modernization Program, a complete reconfiguration of airport runways and layout, rendered moot the airport's 1997 Fly Quiet Program. In addition, communities surrounding the airport began experiencing new departure and arrival patterns, with further changes as construction progressed. Furthermore, a shift from being a predominantly west-flow airport to one with a more balanced east and west flow, aggravated new noise exposure patterns. In a groundbreaking partnership among the Chicago Department of Aviation, the surrounding communities represented in the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, airlines, pilots and air traffic control, as well as the consultants working for stakeholders and with FAA oversight and approval, three tests of a predictable schedule of night-time runway rotation were conducted and resulted in an Interim Fly Quiet Rotation Program currently in use until the completion of the O'Hare Modernization Program.  The O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission's Fly Quiet Committee is now engaged in an effort to develop Fly Quiet 21, to be applicable once the O'Hare Modernization Program is complete in 2021. This presentation will describe the challenges created by the airport reconfiguration, and share the guiding principles, processes and organizational efforts which led to the agreed-on Interim Fly Quiet Program, and the continuing efforts to develop Fly Quiet 21.

Click here to access the presentation abstract


The O'Hare Fly Quiet Runway Rotation Program: It's Development, Testing, Approval and Implementation 

By: Rebecca MacPherson, Federal Aviation Administration

Summary: The O'Hare Modernization Program, a complete reconfiguration of airport runways and layout, rendered moot the airport's 1997 Fly Quiet Program. In addition, communities surrounding the airport began experiencing new departure and arrival patterns, with further changes as construction progressed. Furthermore, a shift from being a predominantly west-flow airport to one with a more balanced east and west flow, aggravated new noise exposure patterns. In a groundbreaking partnership among the Chicago Department of Aviation, the surrounding communities represented in the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, airlines, pilots and air traffic control, as well as the consultants working for stakeholders and with FAA oversight and approval, three tests of a predictable schedule of night-time runway rotation were conducted and resulted in an Interim Fly Quiet Rotation Program currently in use until the completion of the O'Hare Modernization Program.  The O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission's Fly Quiet Committee is now engaged in an effort to develop Fly Quiet 21, to be applicable once the O'Hare Modernization Program is complete in 2021. This presentation will describe the challenges created by the airport reconfiguration, and share the guiding principles, processes and organizational efforts which led to the agreed-on Interim Fly Quiet Program, and the continuing efforts to develop Fly Quiet 21.

Click here to access the presentation abstract


Continuous Climb and Descent Operations in Europe: Successes, Challenges, and Way Forward

By: Rachel Burbidge, EUROCONTROL

Continuous Climb and Continuous Descent Operations (CCO / CDO) are key operational improvements that can provide noise and emissions savings. Whilst CCO and CDO are natural pilot techniques, this presentation will look at how Europe is currently addressing the challenges that have arisen in order to get a significant improvement in CCO / CDO performance. Mitigation of these challenges has culminated in a new Action Plan on CCO and CDO which has been developed with the objective to get stakeholders to commit to a step change in the facilitation, promotion and implementation of CCO / CDO.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Aircraft Operator Strategies for Reducing Noise & Emissions Impacts

Chaired By: Alex Gersen, National Business Aviation Association & Gabe Andino, Teterboro Airport


United Airline's Efforts in Noise Reduction


Delta Air Lines’ Efforts in Noise Reduction

By: Kallie Glover, Delta Air Lines

Summary: Delta Air Lines is diligently working to reduce noise and emissions in our operations. This presentation centers around our efforts in reducing our noise footprint in the communities surrounding airports. The focus will be our balance of transporting over 200 Million customers annually, while striving to be a good neighbor. Points of discussion will include airport initiatives, communications with flight crews, and advancements in aircraft fleet technology. 

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Jet Blue Airlines Efforts in Emissions Reduction

By: Sara Bogdan, JetBlue

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Aviation Emission Reduction Efforts

Chaired By: Eric Lu, Ramboll, Brendan Reed, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, & Rachel Burbidge, EUROCONTROL

The aviation industry has implemented numerous measures over the last decade to reduce its carbon emissions, such as improving aircraft fuel efficiency, electrifying ground vehicles and equipment, and installing solar energy systems.  However, the industry must now amplify its efforts to meet Year 2050 global emission reduction goals to align with the IPCC’s 1.5°C target.  This session will explore - from multiple industry stakeholders’ perspectives - the “Big Moves” that are being pursued to decarbonize aviation.  The session will also highlight how the industry is preparing for the likely impacts from climate change, to reduce future risks and improve operational resiliency.    


Size distribution and resolution of aircraft and roadway ultrafine particles in communities located near and under flight paths

By: Elena Austin, University of Washington

Summary: The Mobile ObserVations of Ultrafine Particles (MOV-UP) Study is a two-year project (2017-19), funded by the State of Washington, with the aim to study air quality impacts of aircraft traffic for communities located near, and underneath the flight paths of Seattle-Tacoma International (Sea-Tac) Airport. The study assessed ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations within 10 miles of the airport in the directions of aircraft flight. This study was designed to investigate the implications of aircraft traffic at Sea-Tac by (1) assessing the concentrations of UFPs in areas surrounding and directly impacted by aircraft traffic; (2) distinguishing and comparing UFP concentrations attributable to aircraft-related and other sources and (3) coordinating with local governments, and sharing results and soliciting feedback from community stakeholders. Over the course of four seasons, both fixed site and mobile sampling schemes were conducted to collect time-resolved measures of UFP concentrations, UFP size distributions, CO2 and black carbon (BC) concentrations. Two distinct UFP features were identified corresponding to traffic and aircraft sources, using a principal component analysis approach. Together these components accounted for 61% of the observed variability in the mobile monitoring data. These unique features allowed for separation of the spatial impact of traffic and aircraft UFP emissions. Total concentrations of UFP alone (10 - 1000 nm) did not distinguish roadway and aircraft features. Fixed site monitoring confirmed that aircraft landing activity is associated with a large fraction of particles in the range of 10-20 nm (ultra-UFP). The MOV-UP study findings demonstrate there are two clear and consistent spatial features of ultrafine particles independently associated with traffic and aircraft emissions.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Flying to Zero: Opportunities for Reaching Zero Net Carbon Emissions at Airports

By: Brendan Reed, San Diego Airport Authority

The San Diego International Airport (SAN) is an industry leader in managing and reducing carbon emissions.  Last year, it became only the 2nd airport in North America to reach “carbon neutrality” status for emissions under its control through the Airport Carbon Accreditation program.  Now, the Airport is actively pursuing programs and policies to help airlines, rideshare companies, and others reduce their emissions at SAN.  The presentation will summarize these current initiatives and highlight emerging initiatives to help the Airport align with long-term global targets of "Zero Net Emissions" by 2050.      

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Striving for Zero: LAX Ground Support Equipment Emissions Reduction Program

By: Tami McCrossen, Los Angeles World Airports

The presentation will focus on the development of the Program, the emissions reductions achieved through the program, and future challenges/next steps.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


FAA CLEEN Program Overview

By: Chris Dorbian, Federal Aviation Administration 

Summary: The FAA is developing certifiable aircraft and engine technologies that reduce noise and emissions while increasing fuel efficiency in partnership with industry through the Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program. Technologies developed by the CLEEN Program will result in an aircraft fleet that generates lower noise, uses less fuel, and produces fewer emissions, thus supporting the overarching environmental performance goal for NextGen to achieve environmental protection that allows sustained aviation growth. This presentation will provide an overview of the FAA CLEEN Program, including past successes and future plans.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Climate Change & Aviation

Chaired By: Yolanka Wulff, Community Air Mobility Initiative, Dave Carbone, LGN Aviation Policy Group & NOISE

This session will explore some of the new methods of transportation that are creating a decrease in noise and emissions in the aviation industry.


Climate Change and Aviation – Decarbonisation and Adaptation

By: Rachel Burbidge, Environment and Climate Change, EUROCONTROL

Summary: Decarbonisation is one of the biggest challenges facing the global aviation sector. This presentation will look at the action being taken to reduce aviation’s CO2 emissions, including the ground-breaking ICAO CORSIA scheme. It will then consider additional measures the sector can take to try and reach net-zero. However, even with rapid decarbonisation some impacts of climate change are likely to be experienced. This is an operational, infrastructure, safety and business risk for the aviation sector, so the presentation will also look at what action the aviation sector can take to adapt and build resilience to those impacts.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Development of a Climate Resilience Plan – San Diego International Airport

By: Ralph Redman, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority

SummaryIn 2019, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (Authority) prepared a Climate Resilience Plan (CRP) using funding from the Federal Aviation Administration. The CRP was prepared to provide the Authority a strategy for achieving uninterrupted business continuity under uncertain future climate conditions. This presentation will focus on the Authority’s motivation for preparing the CRP, the status of its implementation and lessons that have been learned throughout the process.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Sustainable Aviation Fuel: What is it?

By: Megan Boutwell, Still Associates 

Summary: This presentation will provide information on how sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is produced, government and industry efforts to encourage development and use, and a high-level overview on supply and demand.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Lessons from Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development

By: Melinda Franklin, Government Affairs Office

Summary: United Airlines was the first airline globally to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on an continuous basis. While SAF adoption is growing, today United remains the only U.S. airline using SAF in commercial operations. This presentation will provide insights into the challenges airlines continue to face in scaling up SAF as they seek to decarbonize their operations.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


General Aviation

Chaired By: Robbie Gross, KB Environmental Sciences Inc & John Pehrson, CDM Smith


Effective Rotorcraft Noise Abatement Operations

By: Eric Greenwood, Penn State

Summary: The noise generated by helicopters and other rotorcraft is highly sensitive to changes in the aerodynamic operating conditions of the rotors.  Research over the last decade has shown that the changes in rotor operating condition caused by variations in the ambient atmospheric conditions, vehicle configuration changes, and flight maneuvers can result in large changes in radiated noise. Recently, flight experiments conducted by NASA and the FAA have demonstrated that community noise exposure can be significantly reduced through piloting techniques and tailored operations.  New approaches are being develop based on this research that will soon provide piloted, semi-, and fully-autonomous systems with an intuitive "acoustic awareness" to enable ultra-low noise operations.

Click here to access the presentation PDF


Eco-Aviation Foundation

By: Scott Burgess, Eco-Aviation Foundation


Challenges and Solutions in General Aviation

By: Gabe Andino

Summary: Deloitte is working with the NASA to develop a Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Community Concept of Operations that draws insights from across a broad cross section of the aviation Ecosystem. This session briefly summarizes the effort and  focuses on one of the key pillars - community integration. Urban Air Mobility represents an exciting paradigm shift, taking aviation from a predominantly long-distance public transportation mode to an integral component of regional and local mobility. While industry and governments mature Urban Air Mobility capabilities there is recognition that it will to bring aviation much closer to local communities than ever before and that careful and thoughtful engagement will be needed. Experience has shown that communities have a strong interest in any changes to their neighborhoods including those above them. What lessons learned can be drawn from aviation and other industries and principals should guide UAM sector consider and what strategies and approaches should be employed.  

Click here to access the presentation PDF