When it comes to NYC airports, there’s always the debate on which airport to fly to, however based on distance to NYC my personal preference is NYC’s LaGuardia airport. However as LaGuardia is closest to NYC, it means that millions live nearby it and are faced with daily noise of aircrafts taking off and landing. Delta realizes that and has announced its plans to help reduce its impact when it comes to noise.
Per Delta,
Delta will stop flying MD-88 aircraft on a scheduled basis at New York’s LaGuardia Airport effective March 2. The airline will instead fly existing MD-88 routes on a mix of quieter, more fuel-efficient Airbus A320 family aircraft, Boeing 737s and a limited number of MD-90 mainline aircraft, minimizing environmental impact at the busy airport and reducing overflight noise for millions of nearby residents.
“We’re committed to providing our customers an exceptional flying experience when traveling through New York airports while also considering our responsibility to the communities where we live and serve,” said Henry Kuykendall, Delta’s Vice President – New York. “Delta flights on quieter, more efficient and larger aircraft are good for the community and will also support NextGen initiatives around more fuel-efficient GPS routes in New York airspace, the most congested in the world.”
Bottom Line
Whether you live in the surrounding area of Queens, or are someone who flies into LGA often, you’ll be pleased to hear that Delta will stop servicing NYC’s LaGuardia with MD88’s. However, Delta is the only one making this change, so while the noise from Delta’s MD88’s will be gone, other airlines that service LGA may be still be flying these planes here.
This is a great move on their part, but I think it raises a bigger question. Should all airlines be forced to stop flying noisy aircraft to airports which have millions living in the surrounding area?
Please feel free to weigh in below if you support Delta’s decision to fly quieter planes to LaGuardia, or do residents nearby know what they’re getting into when they move there.
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This makes it sound as though Delta will start flying new, quieter aircraft to LGA. But, in fact, they will start flying old aircraft, simply replacing ancient aircraft which have been phased out by almost every other western airline. A320s and B737s are not particularly quiet.
The next question is where are they going to route all of those mad dogs? I’m guessing that some airports that formerly saw a mix of MD, Boeing, and Airbus, are now going to be almost all mad dogs.
Personally I like the md’s. Love the clean wing, the 2-3 seating means the fewest middle seats on a mainliner, and it’s super quiet up front. But yeah, you may not enjoy living by an airport that serves lots of them. I used to live a couple blocks from SFB (allegiant hub). Loud!
Wouldn’t this also mean more first-class seats, which in turn should mean more opportunities at an upgrade into first-class?
It sure would be nice if the Delta would use its now excessive number of MD-88s to replace the CRJ-700s/CRJ-900s, which in turn could be used to replace the horrible CRJ-200s that are no longer fit for purpose.