Soaring Complaints Over Loud Jets At BWI Airport

LINTHICUM, Md. (WJZ) -- Growing outrage and soaring complaints. Loud jets taking off and landing at BWI Marshall are fueling frustrations from people living near the airport.

It's a national problem that's not only impacting Marylanders, WJZ's Ava-joye Burnett reports.

It's become the new norm -- planes constantly coming and going. The Federal Aviation Administration recently made the change. Now air traffic in certain neighborhoods around BWI has skyrocketed.

"It's like the I-95 of planes up in the sky over my backyard," said Barbara Deckert, Elkridge.

The FAA implemented the new next-gen system at BWI last year. Instead of a maze of flights over the Baltimore-Washington air space, flight paths are now on individual routes.

The downside to that now means planes are constantly flying over the same neighborhoods -- a problem so bad, Joseph Presler, of Hanover, decided to move.

"I'm actually only six miles from work," Presler said. "So it's actually making me decide to actually move further away just to have a better lifestyle away from the planes."

The FAA touted next-gen as a game-changer that uses satellite tracking and cuts delays by 41 percent. But several cities have sued, including Phoenix, where the main complaint, once again, is the noise.

The discontent among residents has been soaring ever since the changes were made. On Thursday, BWI and the FAA spent three hours explaining the changes to residents.

"The reality is those choices of flight paths are going to be likely over someone's home. And so, we want to understand, where we can move them over water, we'll do that," said Elizabeth Ray, FAA.

With more than 600 commercial flights every day, residents have one wish.

"But what I really want is just peace and quiet," said Deckert.

The FAA and BWI plan to have more community outreach meetings.

The FAA says the new next-gen system also increases safety and fuel efficiency.