CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new runway and ongoing expansion of Charlotte Douglas International Airport means a proposed change to flight paths. These new flight paths would impact neighbors who live under the airspace where planes would takeoff at the airport.
The proposed changes would spread out and diversify from the paths currently used, according to a map of the proposed changes. This change would allow "departures to disperse aircraft over a wider area," according to the documentation.
Emily Harvey is used to the noise pollution from the planes.
"It's expected," Harvey told WCNC Charlotte of the current flights. "Especially living so close."
If the changes are approved, residents not used to frequent flyovers are going to have to adjust to the changes.
"We would go from a system where the departing aircrafts follow pretty narrow lanes to a much wider dispersion of departing flights," Ed Driggs, the Charlotte city council member who oversees the city's transportation committee, explained to WCNC Charlotte. "Our job is to try to just minimize the inconvenience and disturbance that's created by this change in routes."
Driggs and the entire city council are expected to vote on Monday on whether or not to support the airport's plan. The decision is ultimately up to the FAA. If approved by the FAA, the plan will take two years to implement.
The airport is in the midst of a multi-year expansion project which includes an expanded passenger terminal and the construction of a new runway.