Air Transportation System Planning: Progress in Noise Reduction

Many different groups are involved in air transportation system planning, and noise fits into this planning in a very complex manner. This paper presents a brief examination of how community noise considerations affect the development of new commercial transport aircraft. The general noise level goals of the manufacturer are discussed and information is provided to show that, contrary to popular opinion, the noise levels of succeeding generations of jet transports have generally been lower than those of their predecessors. Some of the evaluation procedures available for minimizing community noise are examined, along with some of the constraints the aircraft manufacturer faces in the design process. A brief assessment of what the future trends in community noise levels will be is presented here.