A.  GENERAL QUESTIONS
B.  FLIGHT AND FLIGHT PATH QUESTIONS 
C.  NOISE OFFICE QUESTIONS
D.  RESIDENTIAL ACOUSTICAL TREATMENT PROGRAM (RATP) QUESTIONS

The FAA is the responsible for directing the movement of aircraft both on the ground and in the air.  The FAA designs air travel routes and procedures including defining separation distances between aircraft, determining hazards to aviation, and other safety criteria governing both airports and aircraft.  All air traffic controllers work for the FAA as part of one national airspace system.  Although other aviation organizations including airports and airlines may petition the FAA regarding flight procedures, only the FAA can finally determine what is safe and acceptable and only FAA controllers may assign a flight procedure to a pilot.

Airports generally are a unit of a state or local government that are responsible for the construction and maintenance of the physical facilities.  The City of San Antonio Aviation Department controls both San Antonio International Airport and Stinson Municipal Airport.

3. What does SAT and SSF stand for?
SAT is the three letter airport identifier for San Antonio International Airport
SSF is the three letter airport identifier for Stinson Municipal Airport.

SAT has six runways arranged as a pair of parallels runways and a cross runway.  All these runways are designed to face the most prevailing wind directions, since aircraft must both takeoff and land into the wind.  The runway ends are named according to their magnetic compass heading with the last zero dropped off.  For example the SAT parallel runways are 12L/30R and 12R/30L have magnetic headings of 120 degrees and 300 degrees respectively and runway 3/21 has magnetic headings of 30 and 210 degrees respectively. 

5. What are the runway lengths at SAT?
The SAT runway lengths vary.  In some cases, a particular aircraft type, usually heavy long-haul international flights, will require the longest available runway for departures. The lengths of runways at SAT are:  12L/30R is 5519 feet   12R/30L is 8502 feet and 3/21 is 7505 feet ’ .

6. Are the SAT runways all level?
The runway s appear to be level, however each runway has slight changes in elevation. Elevation is judged by using Mean Sea Level (MSL).  The end field elevation for runway 12R/30R is 809 feet and 778 feet MSL respectively.  Runway 12L/30R is 797 feet and 779 feet MSL respectively and the cross runway 3/21 is 762 feet and 786 feet MSL respectively.

SAT has established an Airport Awareness Zone which is a boundary whereby proposed zoning changes around San Antonio International and Stinson Municipal Airports need to be reviewed by airport management to help maintain compatible land uses.

1. Why don ’ t the Airlines fly directly to where I want to go?
Airlines own and operate aircraft and decide their own destinations, schedules and fares.   

2. Why are some runways used more than others?
The size, age, type and routes of individual aircraft are important factors in runway use as are wind direction and condition of the runway. Specifically the length of runway needed for both arrivals and departures is a function of how heavy a plane is, and that, in turn, is a function of its size, passenger, cargo and fuel loads and distance to destination.  The heaviest, long distance aircraft often require the longest runway for departure.

3. Which runway has the heaviest use and why?
Runway 12R is the most heavily used because of its length and the predominate southwest wind direction in San Antonio. When wind direction changes more flights then utilize runway 3/21. 

4. Why do Aircraft fly over my home?
As the person in charge of operating the aircraft, the pilot has ultimate responsibility. Although each airline sets their own operating standards, and the FAA assigns the runway, flight track and altitude, the pilot still maintains authority to make a final judgment.  For example, a pilot may refuse to accept a runway assignment and choose a longer runway if the aircraft is particularly heavy.  Generally though, pilots adhere to runway assignments and noise abatement flight tracks for both arrivals and departures.

5. Aircraft are flying over my home now and they weren ’ t flying there last week?
Many variables are involved in the assignment of aircraft to specific noise abatement procedures.  Among these are wind strength and direction, visibility, volume of air traffic, mix of aircraft types, and navigation equipment available on each individual aircraft.  The FAA Air Traffic Control Tower assigns the specific runway and procedure to be used based on all of these variables.  On occasion, operational considerations, such as a very heavy aircraft, cause a pilot to request an alternate (longer) runway assignment.  As a general rule, there is more flexibility in assigning noise abatement procedures when the weather is good and the number of aircraft in the area is fairly low.  Under poor weather conditions, poor visibility, high wind speeds and other conditions requiring increased separation of aircraft and use of instruments, options are more limited.  Fortunately airports tend to be the least busy at night.  For this reason, noise abatement flight procedures can be most often assigned late at night when people are most likely to be disturbed.

6. How is runway use determined at SAT?
SAT Runway use is determined by several factors including safety, weather, traffic demand, runway capacity, aircraft destination, runway length requirements, and prescribed runway use procedures.  Air Traffic Control (ATC) assigns runway use with consideration to all of these factors.  Capacity needs at SAT require ATC to use two runways (RWY 12R/30L, RWY 3/21) during much of the day.  The wind and weather conditions will help determine which traffic flow pattern is used. 

7. Why doesn't SAT direct aircraft away from my neighborhood or residential area?
The Federal Aviation Administration (Air Traffic Control), not SAT has the sole authority and responsibility for routing and separating aircraft throughout the National Airspace System.  Air Traffic Control ’ s first priority is always the safe and efficient separation and routing of aircraft throughout the National Airspace System.  As wind and weather conditions change, aircraft may fly over communities that don ’ t normally experience aircraft traffic during some part of the year.  For example, during the summer, aircraft will arrive from the Northwest and depart to the Southeast.  During winter, this traffic flow is reversed.

8. Why are certain planes lower than others?
Aircraft altitude is generally determined by the distance from the landing or takeoff runway.  The closer the aircraft is to the runway, the lower the altitude will be.  Arrivals tend to descend at a fixed angle of 3 degrees.  This equates to aircraft being only 750 ft above the runway elevation while still 2.5 miles from the runway.  The angle of ascent for departures is a function of aircraft type, weight, air temperature, departure profile, bank angle, wind speed and direction.

9. Who tells the pilots where and when to turn?
Commercial pilots fly prescribed routes and general aviation pilots also fly prescribed routes as well as visual flight procedures (VFR) to and from San Antonio International Airport (SAT) as instructed by FAA air traffic controllers. The FAA is responsible for managing SAT ’ s airspace and for ensuring the safe and expeditious flow of traffic. SAT is responsible for operating and maintaining airport facilities and for ensuring that runways (and taxiways and other facilities) are in good working conditions, meet FAA regulations and are available for use.

1. What does the SAT Noise Mitigation Office do?
The SAT Noise Mitigation Office is responsible for creating, explaining and implementing noise abatement programs within its jurisdiction. These programs include monitoring runway use and noise abatement flight tracks.

3. How does a Part 150 Study benefit my community? 
The largest Part 150 programs to be implemented at SAT are the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program (RATP), Land Use Study and the Noise Operations and Monitoring System (NOMS).  SAT is working in conjunction with Federal, State and local government along with neighborhood groups to develop a comprehensive set of Noise Abatement Measures and Land Use Measures that will greatly reduce the overall noise impact on communities surrounding the airport.

4. What is Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL)? 
DNL stands for Day-Night Average Sound Level and is used to describe the cumulative or total noise exposure during an average annual day.  DNL does not represent the sound level heard at any particular time, but rather represents the total sound exposure.  The DNL Noise Exposure Contours, which define the boundaries of a acoustical treatment program, represent the projection of an airport's yearly noise average using aircraft fleet mix, hourly operations, and arrival and departure flight tracking data.

5. How are the DNL Noise Exposure Contours developed?
SAT used the federally developed and federally approved Integrated Noise Model (INM) to develop the DNL Noise Exposure contours and the boundaries of the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program, which is the industry standard for determining predicted noise impacts around the vicinity of an airport.  The FAA ’ s INM methodology is universally recognized and applied at all U.S. airports.

6. What Input does the INM use to determine the DNL Noise Exposure Contours? 
The INM utilizes flight track information, aircraft fleet mix, aircraft profiles, terrain, and other information as inputs in the development of noise exposure contours.  The Noise Abatement Departure Profiles of aircraft operating at SAT were also analyzed and incorporated into the input of the INM to improve the model accuracy.

7.  Are actual noise measurements used to determine the boundary of the Residential 
Acoustical Treatment Program (RATP)?
Noise measurements obtained from the SAT's system of 12 RMS's were not used in the development of the DNL Noise Exposure contours and the boundary of the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program.  Instead, the INM contains a noise and performance database on all FAA certified aircraft that is used in conjunction with actual recorded NOMS flight track and operations data to develop the most accurate prediction of future noise exposure at U.S. airports.

8. What resources do concerned citizens have in the Noise Mitigation Process? 
Concerned citizens can use the resources developed by SAT, such as this informational Web site, Online Noise Complaint form and a telephone Noise Complaint Hotline.  These services allow interested citizens the ability to access airport noise and operations information.  It also provides an outlet for citizens to vent airport noise frustrations by registering a complaint.  A noise complaint can be registered either online or via telephone by calling (210) 207-3471.

9.  What happens when I file a noise complaint on the Noise Complaint Hotline or the Noise Complaint Website form?
People are concerned about aircraft noise and inquire because they would like to see changes occur.  Filing a complaint will not in itself bring about an individual's desired change, rather it provides a means for SAT to report and disseminate information to the public, local representatives, and airport noise community groups.  Every complaint is logged, analyzed and reported monthly.

10. What is the Noise and Operations Monitoring System (NOMS)? 
SAT utilizes the Airscene software to record and process aircraft and community noise levels.  The system employs 11 Remote Monitoring Sensors (RMS) 1 onsite NOM and 5 Multilateration sensors to gather and process data for nearly every SAT flight.  This combination of noise and flight tracking data allows the NOMS to correlate noise events to flight tracks, compute DNL values, and provide SAT with detailed data, such as runway use, flight tracks, and flight profiles; which can be used as input to the INM.

11. What does the Noise and Operations Monitoring System (NOMS) do?
This computer system consists of 11 Remote Monitoring Sensors (RMS) and 5 Multilateration Sensors in communities surrounding the airport.  The NOMS keeps track of aircraft and community noise levels.  Each monitoring site is linked to a central computer processor and is constantly updated with the latest flight and noise data.
The collected NMS data is used to:
• Record aircraft noise events
• Track noise levels over time
• Assess adherence to noise abatement flight paths
• Link complaints to flights, airlines and aircraft types
• Map complaints
• Identify potential noise anomalies
• Create reports on noise events and complaints
• Produce maps and graphics

12. Can the noise office change flight paths?
No. The FAA controls and regulates the airspace. Any change in departure or arrival flight paths must be approved and implemented by the FAA.  The noise office is here in large part to help communicate between the airport, FAA and local community.

13. What happens when I submit a noise complaint?
The noise office will log your complaint into the complaint database.  The Noise Management Officer investigates all complaints by new callers and callers who desire specific information about noise events and aircraft activity.  When appropriate, staff follows up with aircraft operators and/or the FAA to investigate what action can be taken to minimize noise in the future.  Staff does not investigate every complaint made by frequent callers because they are often repetitive in nature and the staff may have previously spoken to the caller about their concerns.

14. What kind of information should a complaint convey and why?
The Noise Management Officer documents noise complaints by obtaining information from the caller about the nature of the complaint, time of the occurrence and location of the caller ’ s residence.  Staff uses this information to determine the probable activity responsible for the complaint and, when requested, provides a report or a letter to the caller.  The letter or report may include the original complaint and flight track map(s), as well as a response that identifies the aircraft and activity responsible for the call (arrivals, departures, engine run-up, etc.), any available meteorological information (an important factor in aviation activities), and runways in use at the time of the call.  Staff may also be able to provide information on unusual noise events and, if appropriate, any action the Noise Officer may take.

1. Is my home eligible for inclusion in the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program?
The Aviation Department first provided acoustical treatment for homes exposed to aircraft noise that was 70 DNL and higher, based on the 2004 Noise Exposure Map (NEM).  After acoustical treatment was provided to those homes within the 70 DNL and higher level, the Aviation Department decided to continue the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program (RATP) into areas exposed to 65 DNL and higher.  Priority will be given to those areas which are most highly affected by aircraft noise.  Homes must be built before October 1, 1998 and the homeowner must sign an Avigation Easement for inclusion in the program.

 3. Is my home eligible for inclusion in any future Residential Coustical Treatment Program?
Noise Exposure Maps (NEM) are updated periodically to project anticipated future noise levels for the communities surrounding SAT.  These maps represent the boundaries for the Residential Acoustical Treatment Programs at SAT.  The latest 2009 and 2014 NEM maps have been approved by the FAA, so SAT cannot confirm or deny any home's eligibility for any future Acoustical Treatment or mitigation programs unless in an approved treatment area. 

 4. I was awakened last night by aircraft noise, what goes on at SAT at night?
Like most commercial airports in the US, SAT operates 24 hours per day 365 days per year. There is no nighttime curfew at SAT.