Update on the Pearson International Airport noise reduction initiatives

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) and NAV Canada are continuing to make progress on various Pearson International Airport noise reduction initiatives, according to the latest update prepared by the organizations.

At a briefing I attended in December 2019 on your behalf, but on my own accord, GTAA & NAV Canada staff outlined their joint efforts related to the Toronto Noise Mitigation Initiatives Engagement Plan, otherwise known as the Six Ideas.

The GTAA’s new nighttime (12:30a.m. – 6:30a.m.) approaches and new nighttime (12:30a.m.-6:30a.m.) departures efforts continue, having been implemented in November 2018. Increased use of the organization’s continuous descent activity program, which has the potential to reduce airplane noise by 1 to 5 decibels, has now been in place since February 2019. And, the summer weekend alternating runway trial, which I outlined in my Summer 2019 newsletter, resulted in modest success in terms of reducing aircraft noise over our community between late May and early September.

The initiative with the most potential is the Airbus A320 retrofit program which, when largely completed by 2022, will eliminate whine and reduce airplane noise by up to 9 decibels. This is a significant activity because 86% of Air Canada jets deployed at Pearson International Airport today are Airbus A320 aircraft and 90% of the commercial jets used by the four largest carriers that fly in and out of Pearson are Airbus A320 planes. CR