Plane Noise Woes: FAA Renews Complaint Portal for Quieter Skies
Published Date: 5/11/2026
Notice
Summary
The FAA wants to keep using its Noise Portal, where people can share noise complaints and questions about aircraft. This helps the FAA respond faster and work better with communities affected by airplane noise. If you have thoughts, you can share them by June 10, 2026—no cost or big changes, just smoother noise tracking and better service!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 1 mixed.
Complaints won’t automatically change operations
The FAA says the Noise Portal (ANCIR) is a centralized intake and response system and is not an operational analysis or automatic mitigation tool; complaint data alone is not determinative of operational or policy changes and integrating complaint data with flight-track or noise-exposure datasets is beyond this information-collection action.
You can report aircraft noise online
You can voluntarily report aircraft noise to the FAA using the Noise Portal by giving your name, email, location of the noise event, and a description. The FAA estimates 45,000 respondents, with an average burden of 15 minutes per submission and an estimated total annual burden of 11,250 hours.
Web reporting may disadvantage some people
Public commenters said emphasizing web reporting and removing regional phone lines can disadvantage elderly people, people with disabilities, and those without internet access. The FAA says the webform sees greater use, postal mail remains an option, and the agency will consider accessibility and communication in its review.
Repeated reports may be limited or reclassified
Commenters said repeated submissions should be treated as evidence of ongoing exposure, but the FAA said it may clarify how repeat submissions are handled and noted that very high volumes of similar submissions can overwhelm resources and procedural limits may be necessary. The FAA will consider clarifying descriptions of repeated submissions.
Many complainants report poor response quality
Commenters reported receiving boilerplate acknowledgments or no meaningful follow-up and called the portal a 'black hole.' The FAA said it recognizes these concerns and will consider improving portal language, instructions, and acknowledgments while noting limits on what the FAA can do in response.
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