Since April 2015, following the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implementation of “NextGen” a new satellite-based navigation system, Mount Vernon District residents have been subject to continuous high noise levels from aircraft flying in and out of Reagan National Airport (DCA) and over their communities. In August of 2015, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), along with the support of airlines and the FAA took the initiative to establish the Reagan National Airport Community Working Group (CWG) to explore viable solutions to mitigate the impact of airplane noise over communities in DC, Maryland and Virginia. MWAA requested that each area affected by aircraft noise designate one primary and one alternate representative to the CWG; Since the CWG was established, the Mount Vernon District has always had 2 representatives to support and participate in all the CWG meetings and activities including the development of new proposed south flow departure flight procedures.
In the summer of 2016, Supervisor Storck along with Congressman Beyer organized a public meeting with MWAA and the FAA that was held at Reagan National Airport to discuss the concerns about the noise impact due to new NextGen flight procedures generated by aircraft departing to the south. Following the public meeting, residents and Supervisor Storck’s office formed the South Flow Alliance, a group of concerned citizens working to educate community members on what they can do to help bring attention to this issue.
The MWAA CWG made several recommendations to the FAA to alter flight paths to and from Reagan National Airport in an effort to address the aircraft noise. While the FAA agreed in principle to consider the CWG recommendations to alter DCA departure and arrival procedures, limited FAA technical resources have prevented substantial progress from being made.
As a result, in 2023 the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County (Mount Vernon District) and Prince Georges County agreed to fund and contract an outside consulting firm to help refine and re-assess the previous CWG flight procedure recommendations and support the CWG committee representing the South of the of Airport jurisdictions. Since the contract with the consultant was initiated, some positive changes have been identified and are in the process of being presented to the FAA for their review and feedback. These changes will be assessed, flight evaluated and presented for public comment over the next few years.
To learn more about the Community Working Group, visit.
The community has met many times for updates on the DCA South of Airport Noise Study. The meetings included details of the analyses and assessments completed so far, along with an opportunity for community questions and feedback.
See the project website for more details.