Ambitious O’Hare runway rotation plan to ease nighttime jet noise in holding pattern
It took Chicago and suburban leaders years to craft an overnight runway rotation aimed at giving residents living near O’Hare International Airport some shut-eye on designated weeks.
In 2022, O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission members approved an updated Fly Quiet plan with fanfare. And then, they waited — and waited.
“We are committed to getting Fly Quiet across the finish line,” FAA Deputy Regional Administrator Sean Doyle said in June 2023.
As of November 2026, however, the ambitious 12-week rotation intended to spread the din of jets equally across the region appears to have stalled.
“I want results,” a frustrated ONCC Chair Joseph Annunzio said at a Nov. 9 executive committee meeting.
O’Hare’s existing voluntary Fly Quiet program encourages pilots and air traffic controllers to use designated runways between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. A push for a more effective system began in 2015 after a wave of noise complaints triggered by a new east/west parallel runway system.
Finding consensus was challenging as officials strove to balance the impact of nighttime operations on neighborhoods. That involved scheduling a mix of south and north airfield runways of different sizes and directions, as well as considering stakeholders, such as pilots requesting long runways to land heavy cargo planes.
Eventually in 2016 and 2017, the CDA began runway rotation trials, followed by more tests between 2019 and 2021.
After submitting the plan to the FAA, federal and city officials signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2024 setting a framework for the agency to evaluate the rotation and to conduct a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review.
There’s been little progress since, according to documents.
In November 2025, Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurray requested the FAA to appoint someone to lead the environmental review along with other actions.
He followed up saying the city and ONCC “have continued to wait further formal direction from the FAA,” in a letter last month.
The commissioner asked the FAA to respond in writing regarding “is a NEPA review needed at all, and if yes, what level of review is needed.”
McMurray noted the Fly Quiet program “is a topic of specific sensitivity, which is why so much time and effort has occurred over the years with testing.” But tests and an interim program “proved successful in providing relief to communities most heavily impacted by noise,” he stressed.
Asked about the snaillike pace, Annunzio replied “It’s complex.”
Along with ambiguity about the environmental review, there’s also some doubt about whether two diagonal runways should remain on the rotation roster.
The FAA has said the diagonals are problematic in a regular rotation because they can only be used under certain conditions, Annunzio said.
But the agency hasn’t formally told the CDA about their objections, which delays potential revisions to the plan.
“What we do know, is that the plan is safe, technically feasible, and effective,” former ONCC Fly Quiet Committee Chair Evan Summers said Wednesday.
“First contemplated in 2005, and successfully tested a decade ago, the fact that the FAA hasn’t implemented this plan is a disservice to the residents who suffer nighttime noise with no relief in sight. They deserve better,” Summers said.
The Daily Herald reached out Wednesday regarding the rotation plan to the FAA, which said it would respond but had not as of Sunday.
CDA Director of Communications Kevin Bargnes said the agency had “responded to all FAA requests regarding the proposed new Fly Quiet program. The department understands that a (NEPA) review may be required before the program can be implemented, but that is for the FAA to determine.”
“CDA remains committed to moving forward with the new Fly Quiet program as proposed, however, the FAA has final decision-making authority over the program's review and implementation,” Bargnes said.
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