Finding Solutions
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For the Latest Coalition Activities, see Latest Updates
Montgomery County Quiet Skies Initiatives
Education and Advocacy
The MoCo Quiet Skies Coalition works closely with residents, elected officials, the FAA and others to find solutions for the severe impacts of the concentrated air traffic over our communities. We have a strong group of dedicated and highly motivated volunteers, and we have strong advocates at all levels of government who are working with us to mitigate the impacts of concentrated aircraft noise and emissions.
The Coalition also collaborates with other advocacy groups and community organizations around the country to educate the public and policy-makers about the impacts of chronic aircraft noise exposure and to encourage common sense solutions.
The map illustrates DCA arrivals (blue) and departures (red).
Airspace Design Consultant
In 2018, the MoCo Quiet Skies Coalition started urging Montgomery County to hire an airspace design consultant to provide technical expertise to the DCA Community Working Group (CWG).
We realized that technical knowledge about airspace procedures was essential to develop proposals to the FAA that would be supported by all DCA Working Group member jurisdictions and would comply with FAA and Air Traffic Control criteria.
In 2019, Montgomery County, MD and Arlington County, VA entered into a contract with an aviation consultant, Vianair Consulting (formerly ABCx2). In July 2021, the CWG approved a recommendation developed with the consultant that would mitigate noise from aircraft approaching DCA from the north, primarily by moving the beginning of the approach procedure over more compatible, non-residential land. In late 2022, the FAA came back to the CWG with minor modifications to the recommendation. Those changes were subsequently approved by the CWG. Details about the recommendation and background information can be found in the Nov. 2022 MCQSC Update and at DCA.NowGen.net. The proposal is expected to be implemented sometime in late 2023 or early 2024.
Maryland v. FAA
After conducting extensive research to understand the cause of the dramatic increase in noise, MCQSC in 2017 alerted the Governor and the Attorney General of Maryland about the FAA’s illegal actions in shifting aircraft noise pollution without notifying impacted communities and without performing federally mandated environmental analyses.
The State of Maryland subsequently filed a lawsuit on behalf of Maryland residents. Like many similar cases filed across the country in response to the FAA’s implementation of concentrated flight procedures, the DC Circuit Court ruled March 10, 2020 that the lawsuit was filed too late, i.e., more than 60 days after the flight path changes were implemented, and declined to decide the case on its merits.
What You Can Do
Join our Coalition
We would love to hear from you! Please submit your questions/comments via this FORM. Please indicate whether you would like to receive our monthly updates and be informed of upcoming meetings
The Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax-deductible. Please consider sending a donation to help us offset out-of-pocket expenses for MCQSC active volunteers working diligently on this effort.
Make a Donation
If you prefer to send a check, donations to the Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition can be sent to:
MCQSC Ltd.
PO Box 131
Glen Echo, MD 20812
Checks can be made payable to MCQSC. Please include your email address with your donation so that we may send you an electronic receipt for your records/tax purposes. Please also include the neighborhood you live in.
Thank you for your help and support!
Contact Elected Officials
Contact your local, state and federal leaders and let them know how aviation noise is impacting your life and your community. Some of these people make aviation policy, which to date has given nearly unlimited rights to the airlines. Others have budget authority; it takes money to hire experts to interface with the FAA. If you do not voice your concerns, they will not be addressed!
Click HERE for a list of FAA and Elected Officials who need to hear from you!
File a Noise Complaint
The DCA Noise Office collects and publishes reports on noise complaints to the airport. Filing complaints is an easy and important way to make your voice heard, and it establishes a public record of the extent of the problem. It is not important to file numerous complaints, but be sure to file at least some!
You can use these links:
To submit Helicopter Noise Complaints: Click Here
DCA Community Noise Working Group
Bringing Communities to the Table
The DCA Community Noise Working Group (CWG) is the only officially recognized venue for raising community concerns about aircraft noise to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which manages DCA, and to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Montgomery County has four residents and two county officials serving on the CWG. All four residents are members of the Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition (MCQSC). The Coalition provides crucial support to its county representatives on the working group and persuaded Montgomery County to hire an aviation consultant to provide critically needed technical assistance. In 2019, Montgomery County partnered with Arlington County, Virginia to bring the aviation consultant’s expertise to the Community Working Group’s noise mitigation efforts.
Unlike most other airports, flights in and out of DCA impact three separate political jurisdictions: Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The DCA working group was established in 2015 with representatives from Virginia and DC, along with two airline representatives. Maryland representatives from Montgomery and Prince Georges counties were added in 2016. CWG meetings, which occur quarterly, are facilitated by the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority and are open to the public. FAA liaisons also participate in the CWG meetings.
Since its inception, the CWG has sent 25 recommendations to the FAA for its consideration. For five years, the working group had almost no success getting the FAA to adopt any of them. However, in July 2021, the CWG approved the first recommendation that was developed with the help of the aviation consultant. That recommendation is expected to reduce noise for a number of communities, without increasing it for any, by moving more fights over compatible land. New and modified procedures are currently under development by the FAA. The recommendation and background information can be found at DCA.NowGen.net.
More on the DCA Community Noise Working Group is available on the DCA airport website. Important: You must scroll down the website page for the text of the recommendations, meeting notes, FAA presentations, etc.
Montgomery County Representatives on the Noise Working Group
As of February 2023
Voting members
Ken Hartman
Janelle Wright
William Noonan
Alternates
Pete Fosselman
Paul Janes
Susan Shipp
Efforts Nationwide
Efforts Nationwide
Hundreds of communities and millions of people across the U.S. are now severely impacted by noise from aircraft.
In response to the onslaught of noise, dozens of advocacy organizations and several national organizations have formed to join forces in finding solutions.
MCQSC collaborates with many of these national and local groups to share information and coordinate efforts, including:
The Aviation Impacted Communities Alliance (AICA) AICA’s mission is to protect communities from harmful levels of aviation noise and emissions through selective projects for change in legislation and industry practices in the United States. Dozens of grassroots groups collaborate with AICA on its projects and campaigns, including MCQSC.
NextGen Relief is an education and advocacy organization that connects grassroots organizers around the U.S. It has a very informative website about the problems.
Quiet American Skies (QAS) provides local communities with evidence-based resources about the public health impacts of aviation noise and pollution. QAS is a program area of Quiet Communities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities reduce health and environmental harm from noise and pollution. Quiet Communities strives to generate long-lasting structural and behavioral changes that result in quieter, more sustainable, and more livable communities.