Why Elk Grove Village is going to court over O'Hare Fly Quiet plan

Elk Grove Village officials are hoping a judge will force the Federal Aviation Administration to consider another option for a proposed overnight runway rotation plan at O'Hare International Airport.

Village leaders on Monday announced they've filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., to compel the agency to analyze "reasonable" alternatives as part of an environmental review of changes to the Fly Quiet Program, which first was implemented in 1997.

The plan is intended to disperse jet noise across the region between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Elk Grove Village officials especially want the FAA to consider an option they insist more equitably spreads airplane noise around the airport than the lone alternative put forth in July by a group called the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission and the Chicago Aviation Department.

The noise commission has 36 member communities, including Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Mount Prospect and Des Plaines. Elk Grove Village isn't a member.

Village officials in August requested the second alternative be considered but were denied, the petition states.

“The ONCC could have put forward the two plans they had been considering, but it chose to submit the one that is less fair,” Mayor Craig Johnson said in a news release. “If we're seeking overall fairness, we need to make sure the process considers all reasonable alternatives.”

The FAA's air traffic department has raised concerns about certain headings departing aircraft would have to take under the proposed revisions.

The FAA doesn't comment on legal proceedings, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Bensenville Village Manager Evan Summers, whose town is part of the commission, called Elk Grove's action “a short-sighted, obstructionist course of action that will undoubtedly delay the implementation of a fair plan designed to provide relief for long-suffering residents all around the airport.”