Burlington International Airport will no longer record noise complaints caused by military jets.
The airport received approximately 840 complaints of aircraft noise between Jan. 7 and Oct. 7, according to logs kept by the airport. Nearly all the complaints were about noise allegedly caused by the Vermont Air National Guard’s F-16 fighter jets, which are based near the airport and are used for training and military operations.
Gene Richards, director of aviation for the Burlington International Airport, said only 4 percent of the complaints were about commercial airport noise. The remainder were about Guard military operations.
“After the valuation, we really believe the public is better served by dealing with the source of the majority of the information,” he said.
There were 125 unique complainants in the towns surrounding the airport, including Williston, South Burlington and Winooski. One resident from Crombie Street in Burlington filed 157 complaints with the airport, according to the logs.
Some of the complaints were about the low flight patterns and the timing of the flights. Others said their sleep and business calls were disrupted by the noise.
Richards said the airport is now referring noise complaints to the Guard, which he hopes will be shared with the airport.
“There really isn’t much we can do at the airport,” he said. “The Guard can respond much more quickly than we can. They can deal with it. They can be more reactive than we can. We have very little involvement in the day-to-day operations of the Guard.”
Guard spokesman Maj. Chris Gookin said the unit also collects emails and calls from neighbors concerned about noise and keeps them in a log.
He said the Guard follows standards set by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force. However, he said if there are serious complaints, the Guard considers implementing noise mitigation strategies, such as adjusting flight patterns.
“Some people are complaining and there are a lot of factors. Sometimes, it’s the time of day. Sometimes, it’s the weather,” he said.
The U.S. Air Force in December selected Burlington as the location to host the F-35 fighter jet, which is expected to arrive at the Vermont Air National Guard hangars in 2020. The 18 fighter jets are expected to be louder than the current F-16s, according to the Air Force.
Richards said the keeping of the complaint log was not related to the basing of the F-35.
