Federal Aviation Administration

Christopher believes in preserving the quality of life enjoyed by every resident in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District. Unfortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants to infringe upon that by rerouting more air traffic over parts of Fairfield County. The FAA says the plan will alleviate congestion and improve efficiency at some of our nation’s most congested airports – including LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark. The agency’s approach is flawed and fails to account for the harmful environmental and noise impacts on communities like Darien, New Canaan and Stamford.

Christopher agrees we need to continue to invest in our air transportation system to make it safer and more efficient. Airline passenger volume continues to increase and the percentage of flights delayed 15 minutes or more in 2007 is close to surpassing the record set in 2000. Many business travelers are rightfully frustrated by the long delays and inefficiencies at these airports. However, he’s appalled at the arrogance of the FAA in failing to consider other alternatives to mitigate this longstanding problem.

Christopher is working diligently with members on both sides of the aisle to try and ground the FAA’s efforts to direct more planes over Southwestern Connecticut. He joined with Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11), Scott Garrett (NJ-5) and Eliot Engel (NY-17) in offering an amendment that would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine using market-based strategies as an alternative. The amendment, which is designed to challenge the FAA’s claim that the redesign plan is the most effective, passed the House by voice vote. The study is expected to be released on August 1.  He also offered an amendment with Congressmen Frelinghuysen and Garrett to the Fiscal Year 2008 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act that would have delayed implementation of the redesign. Unfortunately, this amendment failed by a vote of 65 to 360.

Work is well underway, however, to track increasing air traffic noise in the District. Christopher formed a “Community Noise Watch Committee” comprised of residents who are monitoring low-flying planes over their homes. These members are logging the date, time, visibility, and approximate loudness of this flight traffic. The data will then be presented to the FAA in an attempt to determine the source of the noise and ways to alleviate it.

If the FAA airspace redesign plan takes off, it will bring more planes into the region at the expense of everyone’s quality of life. Christopher is working alongside state and local officials to help organize the community and bolster our ongoing efforts to keep hundreds of additional planes out of Fairfield County. Your voices must resonate louder than the sound of aircraft flying as low as 4,000 feet in our towns, cities, and state parks if we are to succeed in our effort to keep the plan grounded until the FAA comes up with a viable alternative.