Reno-Tahoe Airport to test new departure route to cut noise

The new Tahoe One Departure will reroute southbound aircraft slightly to the east and over the South Virginia Street business corridor.

Effective Dec. 6, pilots will turn 15 degrees to the east when they get two miles south of the runway. Planes now fly straight out on a departure path called Wagge One, that takes them over hundreds of homes in the southwest Truckee Meadows.

The test will last for 120 days and airline participation is voluntary, airport spokesman Adam Mayberry said. Southwest Airlines, the airport's largest user, has agreed to use the path, he said.

"It's the very best and really only compromise," Mayberry said today.

"It will move the noise from residential homes to a commercial area," he said.

Tom Flynn, president of Citizens For Airport Accountability, said he will be monitoring the results from his living room in South Hills.

"It's good they're looking for options to reduce the noise levels," Flynn said, "but whether or not that actually occurs is debatable. If it shifts noise from my neighborhood to another neighborhood, I would not feel good."

Airport Authority of Washoe County officials say the Federal Aviation Administration will not let them move airplane noise from one residential area to another. But they can move the noise to a commercial or industrial area, such as the South Virginia Street corridor.

The airport authority will monitor noise in eight locations before and during the test. The airport authority is also setting up a special telephone hot line for people to call and comment on the new departure at 775-328-6668.

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