SWAMPSCOTT — The town wants to make sure its voice doesn’t get drowned out if changes in Logan Airport flight patterns mean more aircraft noise over Swampscott.
The Select Board is moving to fill an empty seat on the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) Community Advisory Committee (CAC), a 41-member board advising MassPort, the agency that runs Logan.
“Help Swampscott take flight in the important conversations about Massport operations and the skies above our Town,” states an application invitation on the town website.
Working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MassPort for six years has studied noise levels for aircraft arriving and departing Logan.
The goal is to study “community noise exposure” for Greater Boston communities surrounding the airport and find ways to reduce it. Initial efforts launched by the study allowed MassPort to reduce noise by having pilots adjust the series of turns they take approaching Logan or alter takeoff speeds.
Those changes will be followed, said Massport spokeswoman Jennifer B. Mehigan, by more complicated noise dampening measures. One concern facing MassPort is how to provide noise reduction over other communities without increasing noise from jets approaching Logan’s runway 22Left with its flight pattern over Swampscott.
The FAA is scheduled to comment on preliminary noise reduction proposals this month.
The comments will be delivered, ironically, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced jet traffic — for the time being.
Swampscott’s past representation on the committee has been authoritative with Charles Borgioli, a career airport employee and air traffic controller preceding pilot Richard Malagrifa on the committee.
Mehigan said Swampscott’s committee seat has been vacant for more than a year and the invitation for residents interested in sitting on the committee requires the successful candidate to have experience in one of these areas: airport operations, environmental affairs, labor relations, public health or port operations.
“The CAC member is appointed by the Select Board, and will be expected to report back to the Board periodically and ensure that any vote they cast as part of the CAC reflects the views of the community,” states the application invitation.
