JWA flight path should alternate

Not only is there an increase in the number of John Wayne Airport

passengers as reported in the Daily Pilot on May 7, 2003, there also

seems to be an increase in the buzz of grumbling comments growing in

the community (“Number of JWA passengers increases”). From Huntington

Beach residents to Corona del Mar and Balboa homeowners, complaining

about the airplane noise and shifting flight patterns is the

conversation that’s got it going on. And, of course, there’s not a

word from our quiet Irvine neighbors to the south.

Irvine residents, who loudly profess to care for the equality of

all human beings, are unquestionably silent egalitarians when it

comes to sharing the benefits and the burdens of our Orange County

airport.

Here’s one solution I haven’t heard discussed relating to Orange

County residents’ complaints about planes now turning and flying over

their homes.

I would suggest this neutral and equitable approach: Change the

flight path every five years.

So for the next five years, from 2004 to 2009, arrival and

departure of flights would “make a left” and then “make a right” over

Irvine. In 2009, flights would make a turn over Fountain Valley and

Huntington Beach. Then, from 2014 to 2019, it’s back over Newport

Beach again. We’ll find a spot for Newport Coast, too.

It is time for everyone to share the benefits and burdens of

convenient air travel here in Orange County. Many in our surrounding

communities who didn’t want to listen to their Costa Mesa and Newport

Beach neighbors are finally “listening” to the air space above them.

Irvine residents love to fly out of Orange County and plop down in

those seats only 15 minutes from their home. When they were growing

up, didn’t anyone teach them to share?

Let fairness prevail. Let’s all support this “new approach” to

local airline travel in Orange County to share the air.

VICKI ZIMMERMAN

Newport Beach