Last week we described the airport as a parking lot, or rather two parking lots, because the airport operator does not control the roads, ie. flight paths.This week we talk about those roads, what the FAA calls 'the railroad in the sky'. Why they're so easy to change for them, using the magic spell 'safety and efficiency'. And why that same spell makes it almost impossible for us.We briefly mention the three layers of roads (which are really the three areas of air traffic control) and then go on to explain where the metaphor works and where it doesn't.We go on to describe why airport communities were able to achieve certain gains in the 1970's because of a new agency called the EPA, and zoning. Then how those gains were unwound by a series of laws which transferred control of noise and pollution over to the FAA, culminating with ANCA in 1990.We talk about how the modern arrival and departure procedures (known as the Four Post Plan) came into being, also in 1990, and how a lawsuit here, about a different kind of zoning, became the model for why it is so difficult to change flight paths.We then give an overview of NextGen, which has only made things worse by concentrating flight paths and allowing for much tighter spacing.We note that this policy is not the 'fault' of the FAA. Their mission is 'safety and efficiency'. That magic spell has been used over and over to override local control. The system may be unfair and unjust, but it is the express will of Congress that it be so. It is another aspect of the casino: stop community lawsuits which, from a certain point of view, are considered NIMBYism. Local control prevents the expansion of the national airspace.We pivot back to the Parking Lot to note that the airport is in no way blameless. They have falsely claimed that they do not create demand they only respond to it. They have used the FAA to distract communities from noticing how much they (and the State) actively compete to win market share from other airports and increase capacity as much as possible via any number of technological advancements.We end where we started - in the very groovy 1970's - by reminding the Port of Seattle that they made a promise to the communities "As we do better, you'll do better." To a very large extent, it has been the constant distractions from the railroad in the sky - trying to change flight paths in a broken system - that has made it all too easy for everyone to forget that.Sea-Tac Communities Plan 1973-1976Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act (ASNA) 1979Four Post Plan 1990Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) 1990NextGenFAA Puget Sound Area Airspace Public Information WorkshopTo learn the rest of the story on each of these programs: stni.info/subscribeSubscribe to our video feedFind us on all the best podcasts, including Apple and Spotify, or subscribe via RSSAppleSpotifyYoutube

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