O'Hare Anti-noise Group Wants City Aviation Boss to Resign

May 19, 2014
A group representing city and suburban homeowners seeking relief from increasing airplane noise called today for Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino to resign or for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire her.

May 19--A group representing city and suburban homeowners seeking relief from increasing airplane noise called today for Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino to resign or for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire her.

Leaders of the Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition said they issued the demand because of "mounting frustration over the lack of response from Mayor Emanuel" to meet with them to discuss possible remedies concerning "the ceaseless airplane noise" since air-traffic patterns were changed last fall at O'Hare International Airport.

The Tribune requested a response from Andolino and the mayor.

Andolino has rejected requests from the coalition and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, to consider expanding the airport's voluntary "fly quiet" overnight program for pilots, so it would start at 9 p.m. nightly instead of 10 p.m. She also turned down the idea of O'Hare air-traffic controllers more widely altering the use of runways at night to spread out jet noise instead of concentrating it over one or two air corridors.

The Fair coalition said it supports O'Hare runway expansion because of its economic importance to the region, but that the impact on the quality of life in Chicago neighborhoods and northwest suburbs cannot be ignored by City Hall.

"The response from the Chicago Department of Aviation has been worse than silence. Commissioner Andolino has already made up her mind that there will be no change at O'Hare no matter how many citizens demand change, no matter what solutions are proposed and no matter how devastating the impact of her decisions on families, children and seniors, and even entire neighborhoods," Jac Charlier, Fair co-founder, said in a statement.

"Time and time again whether in regards to making fly quiet mandatory, considering flight path changes or even meeting with Fair, Commissioner Andolino's motto clearly is 'Nno change, no way, no how.' You cannot stay in a leadership position in a democracy with that kind of attitude. It's past time for her to go."

City Council hearings on the jet noise issue that were requested in January by Aldermen Margaret Laurino, 39th, and Mary O'Connor, 41st, haven't been scheduled.

[email protected] -- Twitter: @jhilkevitch

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