Airplane noise appeal request heard

"They say there is a demand [for early flights], but then you're weighing economic interests with environmental rights," said Louis Beauregard, the lawyer representing Citizens for a Quality of Life, a citizens' coalition concerned with noise caused by flights at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

The initial request for a $183 million class action was filed in 2002, but was dismissed by Quebec Superior Court because the suit covered too wide an area, encompassing some 100,000 people living in the city's west end, and could imply too many individual cases.

"What I told the court [at last week's hearing] was let's bring it down to Dorval, Pointe-Claire and Saint-Laurent, where certainly there is a common interest," said Beauregard. The court is expected to make a ruling on whether to authorize a class action by December.

"I'm in my bed and all of a sudden I hear an uproar in my sleep. I look outside my window and I see a plane in my yard at 2300 feet. It's incredible," said Toupin resident Agathe Bourassa, pointing out that a loud noise at that time of the morning is nothing short of startling.

Two more early morning intercontinental take-offs will be added to the flight schedule this season. The large carriers flying out between 6 am and 7 am now include a Boeing 737 (newer 800 series) and an older model 767, as well as Airbus 319, 320, or 321 models.

Bourassa believes there is no special reason these flights should be permitted to fly out so early. "Regular flights are no longer exceptions. [The reason] is economic. Soon, they'll be allowed to take-off at 5 am. Why not?" she said sarcastically.

"We have allowed them on the condition that they use particular procedures for taking off," she said.

The airport authority has implemented a "priority runway" procedure as a way to avoid having planes fly over populated areas during restricted hours.

Since 2000, these early morning flights have taken-off in a north easterly direction, towards Saint-Laurent. Pilots then veer their aircraft sharply to the left so as to fly out of the city over Highway 13, but in so doing, planes inevitably pass over populated areas in northern Saint-Laurent and Cartierville, a sector Bourassa refers to as the "sacrificed zone".

However, the airport authority believes this method reduces noise for nearly 70% of the population in southern Dorval, Pointe-Claire and Saint-Laurent. While lighter aircraft have always been allowed to fly in and out of Trudeau Airport at any time of day, as of last month, all flights departing between 11 pm and 7 am are required to use that trajectory, weather conditions permitting.

"It's newer people who are getting noise, but it's fewer people," said Richard, pointing out that despite recent complaints from Cartierville residents, overall noise coming from the airport has been reduced significantly over the years due largely to the introduction of quieter aircraft, such as A320s.

"Some of these newer aircraft I would say are less noisy than some [lighter weight planes]. Is a small noisy plane that weighs less than 45,000 kg necessarily better than a large one that is more modern and quieter? Transport Canada has established this rule, but we're trying to question that as well," said Richard.