Despite assurances of relief by Lakeland officials, Lakeland residents will have to live with the roar of low-flying jets overhead into the summer.
Adam Lunn, assistant director of Lakeland Linder International Airport, told city commissioners the FAA was still in its initial environmental review of the airport’s proposed alternative flight path as of Feb. 7.
Airport Director Kris Hallstrand had previously said she hoped to have the new routes approved by late 2023, or the first quarter of 2024 at the latest.
“This is a first for the FAA,” Lunn said. “Where they had a non-FAA sponsor and an FAA service provider asking to approve new approach procedures to an airport.”
The airport has attempted to get the FAA to approve a visual approach to Lakeland Linder to abate air traffic noise. This would have guided pilots of approaching planes along South Florida Avenue, then turning over the Polk Parkway and using landmarks and roadways visible from the sky.
The FAA has offered the airport a revised timeline moving forward: a draft of their decision hopefully by April with legal publication in May, possibly allowing pilots to utilize the new approach by June.
FAA has made no commitment to us to achieve this timeline.
Hallstrand said she has a scheduled meeting with the regional administrator in April.