Last year, as part of their commitment in the Six Ideas, the GTAA tested Idea 5: Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program. This summer, they are moving forward with a trial of the Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program from May to September on Saturdays and Sundays only.
This program should give residents some relief from aircraft overhead every other weekend. This means that one weekend, communities may see fewer airplanes while the next they will see the same or a few more airplanes than they currently do.
Trial Details:
- When: Weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) from May 25/26 to September 7/8, 2019
- Time: 6:30 a.m. to midnight
- Scope: East/West runways only; the North/South runways are not part of the trial but will be used if weather or safety dictates
The East-West runways will alternate to give respite to the east/ west communities except during weather conditions that force North/ South use for safety.
Long Branch residents will be most affected at the downwind leg where they turn over us, and 4 other downwind legs: Don Mills, Vaughan/Richmond Hill, and Georgetown/ Halton Hills, and the surrounding communities.
The LBNA Airport Noise Committee is only one of several community groups that have decided to monitor this summer alternation and have people complain, when their weekend is inundated by airplane noise during those times periods of respite.
HERE’s WHAT YOU CAN DO
Contact the noise complaint office at Toronto Pearson.
The GTAA has an online tool called Webtrak that gives a near-real-time view of the sky above the GTA. Residents can use it to identify the aircraft that affected them and can make a noise complaint directly from the platform.
Submit the complaint so GTAA has the data for our neighbourhood during Summer Weekend Alternation.
Get a decibel meter app for your smartphone so you can actually measure the loudness of the airplanes going overhead. This can add invaluable data to your complaint. Some options are Sound Meter Pro for Android and Decibel X for Android or iOS.
Send emails to our MP, James Maloney, every time – day or night – that you are affected by airplane noise regardless of weather conditions. Mr. Maloney’s office will gather this information to submit to Transport Canada, on our behalf.
Contact our Provincial and Municipal representatives to include them in this process. We are told that by their offices they have no say, but when we asked the GTAA, NAV CDA and Transport Canada, we were told that they are included and informed and our input to the Province and the City is recommended.
Thirdly, ask elected officials to create an Ombudsman, as other countries have, to arbitrate noise complaints. This could be modelled after the Australian Airport Ombudsman
Last, say No to night flights during the hours of at least 12am to 6:30am. As other major airports have done.
Here are links for you to reach noise complaint sites and our elected officials
Noise Complaints
GTAA Noise Complaints https://www.torontopearson.com/en/community/noise-management/noise-management-program/noise-management-office/noise-complaint
Webtrak Reporting Service https://webtrak.emsbk.com/gta
Elected Officials
James Maloney, MP James.Maloney@parl.gc.ca
Christine Hogarth, MPP christine.hogarth@pc.ola.org
Mark Grimes, Councillor, Ward 3 councillor_grimes@toronto.ca
Contact us airport.noise@lbna.ca if you’d like more information.
The number of passengers in and out of Pearson will double over the next 20 years. This means more planes and more noise over Long Branch regardless but the proposed Noise Sharing and Noise Splitting will make it a far greater impact. Airplane noise is a direct threat to our health and well being, quality of life, environment and property values.