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Apr. 26, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Limiting jet turns could hit economy

Less airport capacity would hinder tourism

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Click image for enlargement.
Blue: Right-hand turn flights before Oct. 16, 2001.
Red: Right-hand turns flights after March 20, 2007.
Source: McCarran International Airport



Randall Walker
Director of Clark County Department of Aviation says option would shrink capacity

If Las Vegas City Hall wins its battle to restrict how jets fly into and out of McCarran International Airport, it could ultimately cost the Las Vegas economy more than $281 million annually by reducing the capacity of the airport.

Randall Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation, says if a right turn departure option for aircraft is eliminated, it would shrink the capacity of the airport by roughly 1 million arrivals and departures annually by 2012, a reduction of about 2 percent, which translates to about 375,000 visitors.

Add it up and the result is about $281.3 million in nongaming economic impact, not to mention the intangible impact of passengers spending more time cooped up in idling airplanes.

"An increasing number of people who come to town to fill these hotel rooms come by air," Walker said during an interview Wednesday afternoon.

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    • Flight paths at McCarran have been the subject of noisy debate and legal fights since the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorized departing jets to resume making right-hand turns. The decision riled residents in the northwest part of the city who say the jets disrupt neighborhood calm.

    The outcry erupted from a decision by the FAA to restore the right turn option for jets flying west out of McCarran beginning March 20. Residents living beneath the right turn directed their outrage toward the Las Vegas City Council, prompting council members to authorize spending up to $400,000 on a legal challenge to reverse or modify the decision.

    Other residents complained the council has little chance for success and only decided to fight because the people who oppose the right turn live in politically influential neighborhoods.

    Mayor Oscar Goodman says it is a matter of safety.

    "Nobody in a position of authority has said, to a moral certainty, that it is as safe" as the pre-right turn flight departures, Goodman said.

    The city's consultant, Williams Aviation, has said there are concerns about conflicts between flights making the right turn and North Las Vegas Airport and Nellis Air Force Base.

    "It'll be up to a court to decide who to believe. Whether our expert is right, or an anonymous FAA official is right," Goodman said.

    The FAA has disputed that there are any safety issues with the new flight path.

    Walker said Wednesday that the FAA's No. 1 concern is safety and there is appropriate separation between all aircraft.

    Williams Aviation is headed by George Williams who retired as the air traffic division manager for the Western Pacific Region, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada.

    Councilman Steve Wolfson, whose ward covers many of those who have complained about the flight path, said there should be a compromise.

    "This has been such a harsh and brutal blow to thousands of people's quality of life," he said. "It seems premature to institute in 2007 something that won't have an immediate effect."

    He called for county and FAA officials to sit down with the city and talk about a compromise, such as restricting the flights to between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Currently, most complaints point to flights that start at 6 a.m. and go as late as 1 a.m.

    "There has to be some sort of middle ground that reasonable people will reach," he said.

    Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine joined Walker to speak out on the issue and combat what they said was misinformation on the issue.

    Included in their presentation was an estimate that losing the right-hand turn would reduce the sustainable capacity of the airport to 52 million arrivals and departures.

    "At 2012, we are done," said Valentine of the projected date the airport would reach 53 million arrivals and departures. "That is all the capacity you can get out of these runways."

    Walker also made it plain that complaints about the right turn to the county's noise complaint hot line would have no impact on the FAA's decision. He said there is no "review period," which the city has told constituents.

    According to models Walker presented, about 33 percent of jets flying west out of McCarran use the right turn option compared to just 5 percent between 2001 and 2007 when the FAA required special permission to use the maneuver.

    Without the right turn option, average departure delays at McCarran would increase gradually from today's time of 3.92 minutes to 4.59 minutes when the airport reaches capacity. Taxi and idle time would increase from an average of 15.54 minutes to 16.46 minutes, according to airport estimates.

    Most people wouldn't notice much difference on individual flights, but over the course of a day the time would add up to more than 33 hours of delays.

    "I wouldn't be able to stand out on my veranda and see it," Walker said. "Each delay issue is going to add considerable delay to the whole system."

    The capacity reduction of 1 million arrivals and departures equals 500,000 passengers. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates about 75 percent of air passengers are visitors and the remainder are locals or people making connecting flights. Each Las Vegas tourist generates about $750 in nongaming economic impact. The potential economic loss of $281.3 million is a multiplication of 375,000 visitors by $750 in spending. Trade show and convention visitors spend more than $750, but represent just 15 percent to 16 percent of visitor traffic. The difference wasn't included in the estimate.

    The cumulative impact concerns resort operators who want to maintain occupancy rates and continue to add to Las Vegas' existing inventory of about 133,000 hotel rooms.

    MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman criticized the City Council for bending to the will of a few outspoken residents to the detriment of the local economy. MGM Mirage is Southern Nevada's biggest hotel operator with 10 properties on the Strip and the $7.4 billion CityCenter resort under development.

    "A couple dozen residents are drumming up a dust storm at council meetings and the council is responding for purely political reasons," said Feldman, who also said he has lived under the right turn path. "It was never remotely as bad as some of the overly dramatic presentations would make it seem."

    Review-Journal writer David McGrath Schwartz contributed to this report.



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    scott rubin wrote on May 02, 2007 11:56 PM: The FAA and Mr. Walker are clearly out of touch with the rights of citizens in their pursuit of safe, peaceful, and environmentally sound home life. This is not about whining and an undoing of the economy of Las Vegas; it is about disclosure and protection of health and property rights. Mayor Goodman and the City Council are being very courageous in going after the FAA and making them accountable to everyone in this fair city.


    dean wrote on May 02, 2007 10:58 PM: I'm really surprised by all the remarks I've read and cannot understand why there is such a resentment to the uproar of the "right hand turn".

    The issue at hand is that a Federal agency is imposing its will on a community without consent and significantly impacting the quiet enjoyment that was a part of the property owned. This ultimatly translates to a negative impact on value and leads to forced spending on sound deadening measures in the hope of restoring a portion of the properties original condition. People - regardless of where you live, this is a direct attack on YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS. Rights granted by the Constitution. Wake up!!!

    If the folk on the west side of town wanted to live in a flight path then they should have had the choice, rather than forced.


    Pete wrote on April 27, 2007 02:17 AM: Stop wasting tax payers money. Left the residents of northwest Las Vegas live with is really just a minor inconvenience, better yet, let them move to Reno.


    John O'Neill wrote on April 26, 2007 06:20 PM: This is PROOF that Goodman and Wolfson are not up to the task of leading a city.

    These people are the definition of small minded.

    It's time to elect new leaders.


    Doug wrote on April 26, 2007 02:53 PM: Here's a solution to the airport capacity problem: Let's prevent all the whining, crying, jerks that live in Summerlin from from flying in and out of McCarran airport. They would be permitted to use the next closest major airport to the Las Vegas Valley, which is Ontario California, only 200 miles away!


    Sarah wrote on April 26, 2007 01:17 PM: This to me is hilarious that soooo many people are bent out of shape over airplane noise. YOU LIVE IN A CITY! Don't like the noise that comes with it, then go live in a cave! I've lived here since I was 3 (so for 23 years) and have had planes flying over our house on and off from the get-go and don't care. This situation CAN potentially affect our economy if the right turn plan is ultimately declined. Whether people want to admit it or not! A cities economy is a bigger issue than a little noise. GET OVER IT!


    John O'Neill wrote on April 26, 2007 12:19 PM: Hey, Claudette Dorian,

    You should move out north side of town next to Nellis. During red flag we had move all delicate items away from the edges of the tables.

    "I haven't had a decent sleep in weeks, and you think I should just take it"

    You poor baby. However, I was able to sleep just fine when I lived next to Nellis, and when I glived in Spring Valley right under the departure path.
    You and the idiots running city hall should all just get a grip and quit your sorry unic horse whining.

    I am so sick of city leaders making mountains out of mole hills. I hope they increase air traffic by 1000% and add tens of new paths over thousands of miles of the valley. More planes=more people which mean more money. More money means you can afford to move to a part of town that builds tjose new fangled soundproof homes...


    Jason Burke wrote on April 26, 2007 12:13 PM: Our city and county do not have to be 100% beholden to the casinos and the Airline companies. Yes, tourism is important, but there are other industries in this town. To all of you who think this lawsuit is a waste of time, would you want the city fighting for you if the casinos and airport wanted to put a landfill next to your house? It would probably save them some money if they did not have to ship all their trash out of town. How about a sewage treatment plant? Probably would save them some cash if they could process all the tourist-poo in your backyard and not have to pipe it as far. I bought my house in 2005. I looked at the airport noise map and saw that I was not in a flight path. I don't like airplane noise, just as you may not like bad smells. These planes are having a major impact on the lives' of residents. This information should have been disclosed. Since it was not, the onus is on the FAA and the county/airport to remedy the situation (change the path in some way) to accomodate people in the flight path. This is about noise and pollution, but it is also about protecting the property and rights of citizens.

    When the bulldozers show up near your neighborhood to put in a sewage treatment plant, will you want people in this city to call you a whiner or fight for your rights?


    Jon Hamel wrote on April 26, 2007 11:21 AM: In regards to the airport right-turn controversy: So the city of Las Vegas is going to spend additional hundreds of thousands of dollars of our tax dollars to fight the right turn departure path of Commercial Aircraft. Wow, what a great idea, while they are at it, and in the spirit of equal protection under the law, why not fight for the elimination all flights so the citizens of Clark County can all “benefit” for our well spent tax dollar? Let’s just shut down the airport. Let’s just move all of the air traffic out too another airport . . . lets see . . . that new airport at Primm! Oh! But wait, people also live there! So what, let it be their fight, right! While we are at it, I think cars and trucks are too damn noisy, lets eliminate that noise also! Just think how wonderful Las Vegas will be if we can just eliminate all this damn noise! How many people think that would be a good idea? I think we need a vote . . . after all it’s the American Democratic way . . . right? . . . lets hear it for Democratic Majority mob rule! Special election, anyone?


    Bob Z wrote on April 26, 2007 11:09 AM: I can't believe the bunch of whining little suck babies. You people are going to lose tons of revenue from limiting the amount of flights that come into Las Vegas over a little noise. I live in the the Eldorado area of North Las Vegas, and we have the Nellis fighter jets flying over all the time. Although it was annoying at first, now we hardly notice it, as it becomes a part of your everyday living. You moved to a city that has tremendous growth, and with that, you will always have some extra inconveniences, whether they be traffic on the highways, road construction, longer lines at the supermarket or movie theaters, or whatever else you don't like at the moment. If a little extra noise is going to cause you to lose 280 million dollars, then maybe Las Vegas isn't the place for you. Be careful what you wish for. If we lose this revenue, some of it will have to be made up with higher taxes. Think people!!!


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