The Dallas Love Field Environmental Advisory Committee meets this week, offering a rare opportunity for residents who live near the city-owned airport to air their grievances about noise pollution.
Neighbors in Briarwood, Bluffview, Love Field West, Elm Thicket, and the town of Highland Park have reached out to daltxrealestate.com over the past year about the noise from planes taking off and landing at all hours of the night. Some say they can no longer work from home or host a dinner party. Some say it’s so unbearable they may have to move.
Randall Turner, who lives in Highland Park, said he is concerned about the persistent and excessive noise from commercial and general aviation, particularly on the Lemmon Avenue runway.
“Regardless of which runway you live by, we all hear and are negatively impacted by excessive jet noise,” Turner wrote in an email to neighbors. “Management has wrongly stated that the FAA controls all airport issues. City governments in the U.S. can and do control urban airport noise and have relocated airports.”
The Dallas Love Field Environmental Advisory Committee meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 13, at the Maurice Rayshun Smith Administration Building, 7555 Lemmon Ave.
Noise Abatement
Former Aviation Director Mark Duebner retired in November, and Patrick Carreno has served as the interim director since then.
Lauren Rounds, a spokesperson for Love Field, said a group of finalists for the job has been identified.
“The City’s contracted search firm plans to conclude its search in the next couple of weeks,” she said.
Prior to Deubner’s departure, he unveiled a plan for upgrades and renewing lease agreements, which expire in 2028.
Airport leadership is aware of the noise complaints and, in addition to the quarterly Environmental Advisory Committee meetings — which also cover wildlife management — the airport recently partnered with governing agencies including the FAA to meet with residents about the current noise abatement program.
“Those meetings have concluded, and the applicable agency teams are working to reshape the program,” Rounds said. “Once it is complete, we will share updates with neighbors and other stakeholders.”
The environmental team also emails a monthly noise dynamic newsletter to subscribers interested in aircraft noise at Dallas Love Field. The newsletter contains relevant data, upcoming events, and news. To subscribe, residents can email [email protected].
“Love Field is located in a noise-sensitive area of the city near residential neighborhoods, which are essential in their role of providing economic, social, and cultural stability for the city,” the Love Field website states. “It is important that the airport be operated in a manner that allows it to fulfill its vital role of attracting business to Dallas while protecting and preserving the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods. In order to balance these needs, the City of Dallas has adopted policies, which not only recognize Love Field’s importance to the Dallas community but also establish a noise reduction goal to reduce the impact of the airport’s operations on the neighborhoods.”
Noise Pollution
Turner said he’s encouraged neighbors to reach out to the city about the noise pollution. He even developed a master plan for a Love Field riverwalk 15 years ago to convert the airport into a “city within a city.” While the plan gained some support from municipal leaders and the development community, it wasn’t well-received by Southwest Airlines, Turner said.
“The airport, since the Wright Amendment expired, has created so much more harmful noise pollution, with many more gates. As a nuisance bonus, many jetports line Lemmon Avenue. Many of those jets do not have ‘hush kits’ and some are louder than commercial aviation jets.”
The “constant drone” of aircraft has gravely impacted the quality of life for those who live near the airport, Turner added. He has pleaded with aviation staff to distribute the flights more evenly between the Lemmon and Denton runways — an issue that could arise in Thursday’s meeting.
“It is disconcerting that the majority of the traffic is channeled through the Lemmon Avenue runway, significantly increasing the noise pollution in all our residential areas,” Turner said. “I strongly believe there should be a fair distribution of flights between the Lemmon Avenue and Denton runways.”
