NBAA Updates 'Quiet Flying' Guidelines

NBAA continues to promote its policy of "quiet flying is good business,” announcing on Thursday at the association's regional business aviation forum in Teterboro, N.J., an updated standardized noise abatement procedure. The new program supplants the original 1967 noise abatement procedure, introduced when NBAA first urged its members to practice quiet flying.

The update recognizes that “technological advances have affected modern operating procedures.” For example, Stage 4 turbofan engines are much quieter than the “straight pipe” turbojets that prevailed when the original procedures were developed decades ago.

Safety remains the primary concern, but NBAA said certain standardized and simplified procedures can be effective in reducing noise on departures and arrivals. Aircraft manufacturers and airport operators are the primary source of information on quiet flying procedures, according to NBAA, but when situations arise where those procedures are impractical or airport information is unavailable then the recommended NBAA procedures are suitable “for any aircraft type and airport operating environment.”