It's time to talk about noise from a new generation of SSTs

Is Long Island destined to hear once more the approach of supersonic airliners on final approach to neighboring John F. Kennedy Airport?

This spring saw the successful first supersonic test flight over the Mojave Desert of a prototype supersonic transport (SST) built by a company named, appropriately, Boom Aerospace. Now comes word that the White House has just approved commercial supersonic flights over land within the United States.

As the bitter 1970s battle over the Concorde SST’s landing rights at JFK demonstrated, aviation’s progress is often set by the courts. For those whose memory does not include the 18-month-long legal dispute, British Airways and Air France sued the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey after the Port Authority banned Concorde landings at Kennedy. Ultimately, the courts ruled against the Port Authority, but the Concorde’s crucial introduction to a key market was irreparably harmed by the delay.

The primary legal issue at the time was whether the Port Authority could indefinitely ban the Concorde by declining to set specific noise standards, effectively blocking its operations at Kennedy. A federal judge’s ruling backed later by the Supreme Court finally forced the Port Authority to either establish definable noise criteria or allow the landings.

Local residents, meanwhile, had galvanized support from key members of Congress and state elected officials, arguing that in addition to SST’s impact on the region’s quality life, property values would be harmed, and serious environmental concerns were voiced.

Not lost in the protracted legal and public relations maneuverings was the lesson that aircraft manufacturers who ignore neighbors who live under final approach do so at their own financial peril. If one doesn’t take into account the impact of aviation uses on local communities, those communities intend to be heard over the noise of jet engines.

The irony in Concorde’s delay into New York was that, while its Olympus engines were noisy, extensive noise testing demonstrated the SST’s noise levels weren't significantly more disruptive than other jets of the 1970s. In other words, had the Concorde’s construction consortium considered engaging JFK’s surrounding community at the start of their European-based testing program, they would have secured a crucial high-value route 18 months earlier, perhaps preventing the economic hemorrhage that was among the reasons that led to its demise.

Those lessons should be heard and heeded by today’s SST developers.

Long Island has long been wary of how the FAA manages our air space, its relocation of staff out of the region, and its recent operational challenges at airports such as Newark. The agency’s ability to focus on strategic issues such as what SST traffic will mean to JFK and its surroundings is problematic.

Accordingly, now is the time for discussion between the manufacturer and those who will be repeatedly impacted by SST operations. The FAA’s current "standards" for SST operations will likely not address the questions and legitimate concerns being raised by JFK’s neighbors. Nor will the White House decision on supersonic flights over the continental United States.

Concorde taught those living under Kennedy’s final approach the importance of confronting jet noise and new aviation technology before it becomes a flash point. With Boom’s SST demonstrator now "punching holes in the sky," the opportunity for dialogue that will prevent miscues and misinformation has arrived. Concorde aircraft are now found in museums, artifacts of a failed vision, but today’s SST pioneers can still learn its lessons.

This guest essay reflects the views of Daniel Serota, mayor of the Village of Brookville and chair of the Regional SST Oversight Coalition.