Planes turn toward O’Hare over Fremd High School

Some Palatine village council members were surprised to learn that Fremd High School serves as a “gate” for thousands of flights in and out of O’Hare International Airport each month.

That was just one bit of information that O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission officials shared when they attended Monday’s council meeting to discuss the organization and provide an update on the O’Hare Modernization Program and its impact to the village.

Though some residents, including Councilman Brad Helms, may find it hard to believe, Palatine sits just outside of the “noise contour” area deemed heavily affected by airport noise.

The commission members, however, did say that was based on averages, meaning plenty of low-flying planes make their way directly over the village. Helms said the noise is often loud enough that he’ll have to stop an outside conversation.

Aaron Frame of the commission said, “We absolutely know that you’re getting noise,” but added that the vast majority of those irritating flights will go away once the northernmost runway pointing northwest goes out of service. No exact date for that has been set.

In the meantime, the airspace above Fremd will continue to be the point where about 6 percent of all of O’Hare’s flights, or about 4,200 each month, begin lining up for arrival or start turning toward their destination.