AIRPORT NOISE
Our resident Airport Liaison, attends Airport Noise Affairs meetings at PIE. However, some meetings are not always each quarter.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (PIE) Noise Affairs
https://fly2pie.com/noise-info
Aircraft Noise Hotline at (727) 453-7877
General Airport Info
www.clearwater-airport.com
Our resident Airport Liaison, attends Airport Noise Affairs meetings at PIE. However, some meetings are not always each quarter.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (PIE) Noise Affairs
https://fly2pie.com/noise-info
Aircraft Noise Hotline at (727) 453-7877
General Airport Info
www.clearwater-airport.com
**Click on the “File Noise Complaint” button in the upper-left corner.**
You can click the Flight Tracker button below to gather information about a specific flight.
You can click the Flight Tracker button below to gather information about a specific flight.
Noise Abatement Update
Noise Abatement Task Force Meetings are always going to change. So to stay "evergreen use the link below to see when the next meeting will take place.
Click on this link: https://fly2pie.com/noise-info
Del Oro Groves Airport Liaison Information:
1. Training – PIE says that every pilot must be trained to fly straight into the airport as part of their emergency training.
2. Turnover – Most pilots fly with Allegiant for a while and then leave for the larger airlines, which means there are more new pilots who have to be trained both to fly straight into PIE and also the Noise Abatement route.
3.Schedule – The planes are supposed to arrive before 11:00PM and not leave until 6:00AM. (see below for more details on some recent changes)
4.Exceptions – The Noise Abatement rules do not apply to Coast Guard, Military, or Private aircraft.
Please be sure to report low-flying/late/early flights over Del Oro Groves through the online PIE Noise Complaint form or call their Noise Hotline at 727-453-7877. Be specific about the time/type of airplane/neighborhood. Our Del Oro Groves website has a link for the online complaint form and a Flight Tracker where you can find details about a specific airplane. The airport tallies each complaint, and they are discussed at the quarterly meetings. The next PIE Noise Abatement Task Force meeting will be April 21st at 3:00PM.
More Information
Thanks to Reece, one of our residents who has attended many of these meetings, he offers the following additional insights:
The main reason any non-commercial flights fly directly in is that they have no reason not to. It is the direct route into and away from the main runway. As far as the commercial flights, mostly Allegiant, they are trained and are supposed to fly along the bayshore out over the water. This is the preferred alternate approach for commercial flights. But if there is ANY cloud cover as they approach (which could be pretty far out - think New Port Richey), they can switch to a flight path that is straight in. This means that we can have clear skies overhead, but the commercial jets are still seen flying over our houses. That is why that happens.
The Voluntary Quiet Window (VQW) is better explained as the following: It is a VOLUNTARY request that planes not fly from 11 PM - 6 AM. There is no restriction for departure and arrival times at PIE. It can be any time day or night. There is NO enforcement or penalties regarding flight times at PIE. This is because they accept federal funds and so they waive any control. The FAA controls it. The big issue is that Allegiant has many flights now that are SCHEDULED to arrive at PIE in the 11 PM hour now. Why? It fits their business model and because they can - nothing prevents it. And these late arrivals are often delayed due to weather up north, or mechanical issues, etc., and so they sometimes end up arriving much later than midnight. Allegiant hardly ever cancels - they complete the flight, just later. This is because Allegiant doesn't fly every day of the week, so they'd be stranding people on canceled flights for several days. It's an issue very unique to Allegiant, the only major airline that doesn't fly every day of the week.
Airport Expansion Plans 2025 and beyond
PIE is planning a $100M expansion. When fully expanded, the gates will double, which could conceivably double the frequency of flights, including the late-night Allegiant arrivals. The expansion will be able to accommodate an additional 1 million passengers per year. (currently 2.5 million/year). A meeting to communicate these plans is set for 8-19-24 at 7pm at the Safety Harbor City Hall building. Mark Sprague, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities, PIE will be presenting the details. We will update this website once that information has been posted to the City Council website.
If you have any questions about any of this, please contact us at d[email protected],
Noise Abatement Task Force Meetings are always going to change. So to stay "evergreen use the link below to see when the next meeting will take place.
Click on this link: https://fly2pie.com/noise-info
Del Oro Groves Airport Liaison Information:
1. Training – PIE says that every pilot must be trained to fly straight into the airport as part of their emergency training.
2. Turnover – Most pilots fly with Allegiant for a while and then leave for the larger airlines, which means there are more new pilots who have to be trained both to fly straight into PIE and also the Noise Abatement route.
3.Schedule – The planes are supposed to arrive before 11:00PM and not leave until 6:00AM. (see below for more details on some recent changes)
4.Exceptions – The Noise Abatement rules do not apply to Coast Guard, Military, or Private aircraft.
Please be sure to report low-flying/late/early flights over Del Oro Groves through the online PIE Noise Complaint form or call their Noise Hotline at 727-453-7877. Be specific about the time/type of airplane/neighborhood. Our Del Oro Groves website has a link for the online complaint form and a Flight Tracker where you can find details about a specific airplane. The airport tallies each complaint, and they are discussed at the quarterly meetings. The next PIE Noise Abatement Task Force meeting will be April 21st at 3:00PM.
More Information
Thanks to Reece, one of our residents who has attended many of these meetings, he offers the following additional insights:
The main reason any non-commercial flights fly directly in is that they have no reason not to. It is the direct route into and away from the main runway. As far as the commercial flights, mostly Allegiant, they are trained and are supposed to fly along the bayshore out over the water. This is the preferred alternate approach for commercial flights. But if there is ANY cloud cover as they approach (which could be pretty far out - think New Port Richey), they can switch to a flight path that is straight in. This means that we can have clear skies overhead, but the commercial jets are still seen flying over our houses. That is why that happens.
The Voluntary Quiet Window (VQW) is better explained as the following: It is a VOLUNTARY request that planes not fly from 11 PM - 6 AM. There is no restriction for departure and arrival times at PIE. It can be any time day or night. There is NO enforcement or penalties regarding flight times at PIE. This is because they accept federal funds and so they waive any control. The FAA controls it. The big issue is that Allegiant has many flights now that are SCHEDULED to arrive at PIE in the 11 PM hour now. Why? It fits their business model and because they can - nothing prevents it. And these late arrivals are often delayed due to weather up north, or mechanical issues, etc., and so they sometimes end up arriving much later than midnight. Allegiant hardly ever cancels - they complete the flight, just later. This is because Allegiant doesn't fly every day of the week, so they'd be stranding people on canceled flights for several days. It's an issue very unique to Allegiant, the only major airline that doesn't fly every day of the week.
Airport Expansion Plans 2025 and beyond
PIE is planning a $100M expansion. When fully expanded, the gates will double, which could conceivably double the frequency of flights, including the late-night Allegiant arrivals. The expansion will be able to accommodate an additional 1 million passengers per year. (currently 2.5 million/year). A meeting to communicate these plans is set for 8-19-24 at 7pm at the Safety Harbor City Hall building. Mark Sprague, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities, PIE will be presenting the details. We will update this website once that information has been posted to the City Council website.
If you have any questions about any of this, please contact us at d[email protected],