Flight plans get new life

A once-stalled plan to redesign airspace over Salt Lake and Davis counties — and possibly put jets over the Wasatch Front's more affluent east side — has regained its funding source and is once again moving forward.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Northern Utah Airspace Initiative had been on hold for several months after FAA administrators in Washington, D.C., stalled the project earlier this year.

In Salt Lake City, project leaders had been wanting to proceed with a draft environmental impact study but lacked the funds.

But now the cash flow is there and the project has funding enough to finish its draft environmental study, which should be made public by February or March, NUAI project manager Clark Desing said. Once complete, the public will have several months to comment before the study is finalized, said Desing, air traffic manager at Salt Lake City International Airport.

"We have got our funding stream back" for the environmental study, Desing said. Still, he added, that doesn't necessarily mean the airspace redesign will be funded as well.

"It's hard to predict these things when you get into the political arena," he said.

The airspace redesign has become a politically charged issue since the FAA proposed it two years ago.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, environmental groups like Save Our Canyons and a slew of others have argued against the plan, saying it will hurt east-side canyons, boost east-side noise pollution and decrease east-side property values.

In the meantime, some west-side leaders, like West Jordan Mayor Bryan Holladay and others, have come out in favor on the plan, agreeing with airport controllers who say the airspace redesign is needed to ensure the airport is not bogged down with delays.

Even the Utah Air Travel Commission, a politically powerful group that includes H. David Burton, presiding bishop of the LDS Church, is set to weigh in. Commission executive secretary Monte Yeager said the commission will debate the issue next week.

"It's a discussion on whether or not the commission should support everything that's going on," he said. "Whether the commission should be supporting the FAA or those who are opposed."

The FAA has developed alternatives for Salt Lake City's existing airspace, which puts approaching planes in a "downwind" approach pattern over Salt Lake County's far west side near the Oquirrh Mountains. One new alternative would add an eastern approach pattern and allow commercial jets to enter the airspace over Wasatch Mountain canyons.

The FAA says the redesign is necessary to accommodate growing air traffic at Salt Lake City International. However, Salt Lake City Department of Airports Director Tim Campbell says the airport's traffic isn't growing as fast as the FAA once thought, especially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks decimated the airline industry.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com