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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: City Manager Dave Kiff
January 10, 2018 949-644-3001
City Attorney Aaron Harp
949-644-3131
Newport Beach, FAA Reach Tentative Agreement Further Restricting John Wayne Airport
Flight Departure Paths
NEWPORT BEACH, Ca. — Newport Beach Mayor Marshall "Duffy" Duffield, Mayor Pro Tem Will
O'Neill, and their Newport Beach City Council colleagues, have announced that the City of
Newport Beach (City) reached a tentative agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) regarding flight paths from Orange County's John Wayne Airport (SNA). The agreement
remains subject to the approval of the FAA and the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the City Council's direction, the City sued the FAA in October 2016 regarding the FAA's
environmental document associated with the FAA's nationwide "NextGen" program's
implementation in Southern California. The recent legal settlement also involves the County of
Orange, the operator of SNA, which intervened in the action after the City filed its lawsuit.
The City filed the lawsuit after it did not see adequate protections for the Newport Beach
community's quality of life. The City argued that the FAA could use the document to significantly
change the historical flight paths down the middle of the Upper Newport Bay. Flight paths for
planes departing from SNA could have been routed across a majority of the city, from the tip of
Newport Coast to the Santa Ana River, under the environmental documents prepared for
NextGen.
The City Council understood that any litigation against the FAA would be an uphill battle and
was by no means a guaranteed success; however, the City Council was and is committed to
protecting the interests of Newport Beach residents and determined that this was a necessary
challenge. As a direct result of the City's litigation, the FAA agreed that the NextGen flight paths
will stay between the existing SNA noise monitors and will design and study one of the nation's
first precision -based curved departure procedures for SNA. This procedure, planned for
implementation in the coming weeks, would in theory allow planes to follow the curves of the
Upper Newport Bay, therefore avoiding as many residential areas as possible.
City, FAA Reach Tentative Agreement Pg. 1
Further, the FAA agreed to ensure all future changes to flight paths will be fully analyzed anew
under the National Environmental Policy Act. Finally, additional protections were secured
against excessive "early offshore turns" that, if allowed, would bring certain departures closer to
Corona del Mar and Newport Coast.
According to City Attorney Aaron Harp, this settlement agreement represents an outcome
"better than what could be expected had this matter gone through to trial," as the trial would
solely have focused on the adequacy of the environmental document.
Mayor Duffield said, "The litigation was a bold step for the City Council in 2016 - as well as for
former Chair Michelle Steel and the Orange County Board of Supervisors - and it is coming to a
successful legal conclusion. Protecting our community against the negative impacts of the
airport is the most important thing we do here in Newport Beach."
Mayor Pro Tem O'Neill said, "As a City Council, this is a good outcome, but we're not done. We
will remain vigilant in protecting the landmark 1985 Settlement Agreement — within which the
JWA curfew, the noise limits, and the passenger caps are contained — so that John Wayne
Airport is operated with the least impact to our residents well into the future."
City Manager Dave Kiff said, "We have appreciated how the FAA's design staff in Renton,
Washington has worked with us through these challenging talks. This demonstrates the FAA's
commitment to continuing to work with our community and the airport on a going -forward basis,
and I admire that. This gives me optimism for the future that our other concerns can be
thoughtfully addressed, too."
To that end, in September 2017, the City Council directed City staff to proceed with the following
steps outside of this litigation to further the City's goals:
1. To conduct additional noise monitoring to determine if the seven (7) existing noise
monitoring stations on the departure corridors are reporting noise accurately;
2. To encourage commercial air carriers to depart along the FAA's geographic routes in a
manner that uses the quietest departure procedure possible while still ensuring safety.
City, FAA Reach Tentative Agreement Pg. 2
To this end, the City intends to work with the County of Orange, the FAA, air carriers and
noise and aircraft experts to potentially design a new noise abatement departure
procedure for SNA that reflects updated plane technologies.
3. To encourage commercial air carriers to rapidly incorporate quieter and less polluting
planes into their fleets, such as the Airbus 320neo and the Boeing 737 -MAX; and
4. To bring on advocacy in Washington DC to similarly work with carriers and carrier
groups to inform them of the Newport Beach community's interests.
For any questions about the litigation or the City's approach to John Wayne Airport, please
contact City Manager Dave Kiff at 949-644-3001 or dkiff(cDnewportbeachca.gov, or City Attorney
Aaron Harp at 949-644-3131 or aharp(o-)_newportbeachca.gov.
City, FAA Reach Tentative Agreement Pg. 3