FAA to host air traffic input meeting in Winter Park

The Federal Aviation Administration is looking to rewrite Florida’s air traffic procedures, and it wants Winter Park residents’ help in doing so. 

Starting April 15, the FAA is hosting a series of public workshops across Central Florida to receive input from citizens on proposed changes to the air traffic procedures for Orlando International Airport and other local airports. 

Winter Park’s workshop will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 18 at the Winter Park Community Center. 

Residents will be able to deliver written comments at the three-hour workshops on their issues with air traffic and opinions on the project. The meetings also will have Spanish translators present. 

The meeting is part of the FAA’s South-Central Florida Metroplex project, which aims to improve air traffic procedures through satellite-based navigation. The South-Central Florida Metroplex — one of many planned systems in the country — attends to major airports in Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 

“We’re just now at the point where we will be presenting the proposed procedures to the public and offering the public the opportunity to come in and provide input,” said Kathleen Bergen, communications director for the Federal Aviation Administration. “We welcome people to come to the meetings, share information, look at the information we’re offering them. We’ll have traffic control experts and people who are knowledgeable about air-traffic procedures in the Central Florida area able to answer questions.”

The meeting will have the proposed air-traffic designs complete with expected altitudes of those flights. Officials from the Greater Orlando Aviation presented information to the Winter Park City Commission in August 2018 regarding resident complaints of low-level flights and louder engines.

Following the public-input period, the project’s environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act will begin with a planned start date of summer 2019. Residents will again be able to comment on the proposals during the environmental process, and the FAA believes the review to be complete by 2020. If all goes well, it hopes to implement the new procedures based on the review and comments by 2021.

Bergen recommends residents to read up on the proposed procedures before the meeting to better provide input. 

Residents also will be able to provide feedback on the FAA’s workshop website from April 15 through May 18.

If You Go: FAA Air Traffic Pattern Community Input Workshop

WHEN: 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 18

WHERE: Winter Park Community Center, 721 W. New England Ave.

WEBSITE: cityofwinterpark.org/event/federal-aviation-administration-air-traffic-pattern-community-input-workshop

INPUT WEBSITE: faa.gov/nextgen/nextgen_near_you/community_involvement/florida

Orlando Schedule

April 15 — Lake Nona High School, 12500 Narcoossee Road, Orlando, 32832

April 16 — Orlando Executive Airport, 365 Rickenbacker Drive, Orlando, 32803

April 17 — Florida Hotel and Conference Center, 8001 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, 32809

April 18 —Winter Park Community Center, 721 W. New England Avenue, Winter Park, 32789