An MIT scientist has discovered a simple way to battle the airplane noise that’s become a major nuisance in several cities: Slow the planes down. It turns out engines aren’t the major culprit anymore. New airplanes are much quieter. It’s the “whoosh” that big airplanes make racing through the air. Computer models suggest slowing departures by 30 knots would reduce noise on the ground significantly. Flights will last a few seconds longer, and airlines will burn a few more gallons of fuel. But “hundreds of thousands of people would get some reduction and for tens of thousands, it would go from problematic to not problematic,” says John Hansman, an aeronautics professor and director of the International Center for Air Transportation at the MIT. <br/>
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Another nor’easter, another headache for air travellers. Airline cancellations were piling up again Wednesday and Thursday as a strong coastal storm snarled flights in the Northeast for the second time in a week. More than 2,725 flights had been grounded for Wednesday and another 350 for Thursday as of 4:55 pm ET Wednesday. Most of those cancellations were made pre-emptively Tuesday as airlines looked to get ahead of the developing storm. Wednesday, the 3 big New York City airports were the hardest hit. More than 700 flights – 353 departures and 360 arrivals – had been canceled at Newark Liberty as of 4:55 pm. That represented more than half of all flights there Wednesday. Similar problems were reported at JFK and LaGuardia. <br/>
Tougher airport security resulted in a tripling of flight delays last summer and there have been calls for improved staffing and infrastructure to tackle the issue this summer. A4E urged EU states at its annual meeting in Brussels Wednesday to "do more" to alleviate the problem. "With the busy summer travel season ahead of us, we need to learn from last year's unacceptable experience - specifically at EU borders, where insufficient infrastructure and understaffing led to an increase of up to 300% in flight delays at some airports, causing up to 5% of passengers per day to miss their connecting flights," said A4E MD Thomas Reynaert. He said that Europe's air traffic control staffing also needs to be beefed up to reduce delays in the skies. <br/>