At their annual meeting on May 5, the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (ONCC) presented the 2022 Fly Quiet Recognition Awards.
(Pictured L to R: Jeff Riddel, Vice President, Atlas Air; Matthew John Rodriguez, Aircraft Maintenance Hub Manager, Air Wisconsin; Karyn Robles, ONCC Vice-Chair, Village of Schaumburg; Captain Nick Caulfield, Chicago Chief Pilot, Southwest Airlines.) PHOTO CREDIT: Mike Zarnek
The ONCC is a consortium of 42 communities and 19 school districts dedicated to reducing the impact of aircraft noise within the Chicago O’Hare International Airport (O’Hare) region.
The Fly Quiet Recognition Award was developed by the ONCC’s Technical Committee and approved by the full ONCC membership, based on several years of work in determining the criteria and weighting for the award elements. The committee felt it was important to reward good behavior as an incentive for airlines to encourage compliance with O’Hare’s voluntary Fly Quiet Program, which aims to reduce the impact of aircraft noise during overnight hours in the communities around O’Hare by designating nighttime preferential runways and flight tracks.
The Fly Quiet Recognition Award is based on the following elements:
|
Category |
Goal |
Weighting |
|
Fleet Quality |
Acknowledge and encourage airlines to fly the quietest aircraft during the overnight hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. |
20% |
|
Airline Schedule |
Acknowledge and encourage airlines to schedule less flights during the overnight hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. |
35% |
|
Preferential Flight Tracks |
Acknowledge and encourage airlines to direct aircraft over less-populated areas by following the recommended nighttime departure procedures in an effort to limit the effects of noise on the surrounding communities. |
40% |
|
Ground Run-Ups |
Acknowledge and encourage airlines to utilize the Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE) to minimize noise generated from all aircraft engine test runs during maintenance and repair procedures. |
5% |
Awards are given in three categories; air carrier, regional air carrier, and cargo carrier, to airlines that had at least one average nightly operation at O’Hare in 2022. The enclosed report provides the data on all airlines included in the analysis. Based on data provided by the Chicago Department of Aviation, the top scores in each category were:
- Air Carrier - Southwest Airlines (81.2 of 100 points)
- Regional Air Carrier – Air Wisconsin (89.1 of 100 points)
- Cargo Carrier – Atlas Air (72.8 of 100 points)
The ONCC appreciates these airlines being good neighbors to our communities and congratulates them on receiving the 2022 Fly Quiet Recognition awards. This recognition will be given annually, and 2023 data is already being tracked. We hope this recognition will be an incentive to all airlines operating at O’Hare to be mindful of these considerations that help reduce the impact of noise on surrounding communities.