Interim Fly Quiet Runway Rotation Final Report November 3, 2019 – January 31, 2021 Fly Quiet Program Chicago O’Hare International Airport Visit the O’Hare Noise Webpage on the Internet at www.flychicago.com/oharenoise TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY Fly Quiet Mode ...................................................................................................................... page 2 Figure 1: IFQ Average Daily Fly Quiet Start and Stop Times .............................................. page 2 Figure 2: IFQ Average Operations by Hour ....................................................................... page 3 Interim Fly Quiet Runway Configurations ............................................................................... page 3 Figure 3: Interim Fly Quiet Configurations ........................................................................ page 3 Designated Runways .............................................................................................................. page 4 Figure 4: IFQ Average Runway Configuration Usage ......................................................... page 4 Runway Utilization ................................................................................................................. page 5 Figure 5: IFQ Average Runway Utilization ......................................................................... page 5 Wind Summary ...................................................................................................................... page 6 Figure 6: Percent of Wind Occurrences During IFQ ........................................................... page 6 Wide-Body Aircraft ................................................................................................................ page 7 Figure 7: IFQ Wide-Body Operations Occurring on Runways Less Than 10,000’ ................ page 7 REPORTS Interim Fly Quiet Summary .............................................................................................. page 8 Interim Fly Quiet Daily Log ............................................................................................... page 9 Nighttime Weekly Wind Summary ................................................................................. page 16 Runway Use Report: Fly Quiet Mode.............................................................................. page 20 Airline Summary: Fly Quiet Mode .................................................................................. page 21 Aircraft Fleet Mix Report: Fly Quiet Mode ...................................................................... page 23 SUMMARY On September 18, 2015, the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (ONCC) formed an ad hoc Fly Quiet Committee (Committee) to review, modify and make recommendations regarding nighttime noise abatement procedures at O’Hare International Airport (O’Hare). The Committee was formed as a result of the Chicago Department of Aviation’s (CDA) Noise Recommendations modifying the Fly Quiet Program and was made a standing Committee on June 19, 2018. The Committee has since completed three Fly Quiet Rotation Tests, each of which were approved by the FAA. The purpose of the tests was to collect data on various Fly Quiet runway configurations to provide near-term noise relief and reduce noise impacts to communities surrounding O’Hare. More information on the Fly Quiet Runway Rotation Tests can be found on the CDA’s website at www.flychicago.com/oharenoise. Following the completion of the tests, and with extensive coordination by the CDA and ONCC with the public, airlines and the FAA, the CDA developed a new temporary program called the Interim Fly Quiet Runway Rotation Program (IFQ). The goal of the IFQ is to: 1. Provide Near-Term Relief 2. Reduce Impacts to the Highest Impacted Communities – Provide Relief to Significantly Impacted Communities 3. Provide Predictability – Publish a rotation schedule that allows citizens to predict periods of relief to the extent possible The IFQ took place from November 2019 through the end of January 2021. Significant runway construction and pavement rehabilitation on Runways 4L-22R and 4R-22L impacted the IFQ schedule during the 2019 and 2020 construction seasons, respectively. As a result, the IFQ schedule was modified to accommodate these closures. The IFQ program ran for a total of 48 weeks between November 3, 2019 through January 31, 2021 with a break during the summer months of 2020 for construction. In calendar year 2020, O’Hare experienced a significant decrease in operation levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic which effected the quantity and type of aircraft that operated during IFQ. The following summarizes the results of the IFQ. The IFQ followed a 48-week schedule and included six (6) designated Fly Quiet Runway Configurations that were rotated on a weekly basis with the intention to balance the overnight noise. Primary and Secondary Runway Configurations were designated for each week of the IFQ to accommodate weather changes. Each new week began on Sunday evening at 10 p.m. or later, during Fly Quiet Mode when demand allowed for one designated arrival runway and one designated departure runway. For each week of the IFQ, the Start and Stop times of Fly Quiet Mode, as well as various conditions such as runway safety inspections, maintenance, inclement weather, and alternate runway requests, were recorded and reported on the CDA’s website. During IFQ, 47 percent of the aircraft operations that occurred during Fly Quiet Mode utilized the designated IFQ runways. Each night during Fly Quiet Mode, there was an average of 82 operations, 39 of which operated on designated runways. Please refer to the following sections for additional details. Chicago Department of Aviation Page 1 April 2021 FLY QUIET MODE The FAA considers nighttime hours as 10:00 p.m. - 07:00 a.m. as defined in Airport Noise Compatibility Planning (14 CFR Part 150). It is the CDA’s goal for the Fly Quiet Program to occur during the entire nine-hour nighttime period of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., however due to operational demand by the airlines and traveling public, Fly Quiet is typically limited to a period less than nine hours. Fly Quiet Mode, the period of time in Fly Quiet, starts each night on or after 10:00 p.m., once demand allows for two departure runways and one arrival runway and allows for the preferential flight tracks as outlined in the CDA’s Fly Quiet Manual. Demand for the majority of the night allows for one arrival runway and one departure runway. Once demand increases in the morning where additional runways are needed and preferential flight tracks can no longer be utilized, Fly Quiet Mode stops. There were thirty-one (31) nights during IFQ where Fly Quiet Mode lasted the entire nine-hour nighttime period from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (see IFQ Summary Reports for more details). FIGURE 1 IFQ AVERAGE DAILY FLY QUIET MODE START AND STOP TIMES Figure 1 shows the daily Fly Quiet Mode Start and Stop times for every night of the IFQ. The average daily Fly Quiet Mode Start Time was 10:32 p.m. and the average daily Fly Quiet Mode Stop Time was 6:16 a.m., for an average of seven (7) hours and forty-four (44) minutes each night. The Fly Quiet Mode Start and Stop times are triggered by runway demand. As shown in Figure 2, the departure demand before 10:32 p.m. prevents Fly Quiet Mode from beginning any earlier. If that departure demand is delayed for any reason, the start of Fly Quiet Mode is also delayed. Similarly, the large arrival demand before 7 a.m. caused Fly Quiet Mode to typically end at 6:16 a.m. If this arrival demand is delayed, Fly Quiet Mode may continue longer into the morning hours. Chicago Department of Aviation Page 2 April 2021 FIGURE 2 IFQ AVERAGE OPERATIONS BY HOUR INTERIM FLY QUIET RUNWAY CONFIGURATIONS Six (6) IFQ Runway Configurations were developed and scheduled for a total of forty-eight (48)-weeks as shown in Figure 3. FIGURE 3 INTERIM FLY QUIET CONFIGURATIONS Chicago Department of Aviation Page 3 April 2021 DESIGNATED RUNWAYS During IFQ, 47 percent of the operations that occurred during Fly Quiet Mode utilized the designated runways. Figure 4 ranks the order of the IFQ Configuration usage, from highest to lowest. FIGURE 4 IFQ AVERAGE RUNWAY CONFIGURATION USAGE Each night (10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) there was an average of 160 operations. During IFQ 47 percent of the aircraft operations that occurred during the Fly Quiet Mode utilized the designated rotation runways. Each night there was an average of 82 operations, 39 of which operated on designated runways. The remaining 53 percent of the operations did not utilize the designated runways due to the following reasons: Note 1: Operations that occurred on runways other than those designated due to Runway Safety Inspections and/or Aircraft Requirements. Note 2: A designated area of an airport where aircraft, vehicles, persons or physical obstructions must remain clear of when one or more Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) are in use, to protect against signal interference. Chicago Department of Aviation Page 4 April 2021 RUNWAY UTILIZATION IFQ was designed to balance the runway utilization during Fly Quiet Mode. The IFQ schedule included alternating weeks of utilizing parallel and diagonal runways and included an equal number of East and West Flow weeks. Every week had a secondary configuration to accommodate opposite wind flow but remained on runways similar to the primary configuration. The average operations for Fly Quiet Mode are broken out as follows: Total Average Arrivals