I want to thank the Gazette for covering the opening of the new Runway 14/32 at Logan Airport (“NW Winds to blow noise to JP” Dec. 1). I would like to clarify a few things.
The new runway will indeed be used only by smaller aircraft, but those smaller planes will not fly over our area. However, by removing those small, slower-flying planes from the mix historically using the runway that impacts Jamaica Plain (Runway 27), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is able to move two to four times as many large jet aircraft off of Runway 27. Currently, Runway 27 departures total approximately 38,000 a year. Massport’s own figures project that because of the impact of Runway 14/32 on Runway 27’s utilization, JP will suffer with 10,000 more departures annually by the year 2015.
Massport is not “legally forbidden to let planes take off or land over South Boston and downtown.” Planes continually fly at very low altitudes over South Boston and some of downtown. The building heights in downtown prevent the FAA from directing large aircraft over that area.
And as any experienced citizen knows, an agency such as Massport holding “100 meetings” means nothing when it ignores the legitimate concerns of the impacted public regarding noise and environmental impacts and forges ahead with a plan that will increase capacity at the airport and offer minimal air traffic delay reduction while inundating inner-city neighborhoods with unprecedented noise.
Anastasia Lyman
Jamaica Plain