Congresswoman Norma J. Torres Leads Bipartisan Letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Opposing New Air Traffic Routes Over 35th Congressional District

WASHINGTON D.C. - Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) was joined by Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42), Congressman Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (CA-38), and Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-39) in sending a bipartisan letter to the Federal Aviation Administration opposing a proposal to reroute a portion of Los Angeles International Airport's (LAX) air traffic over communities in the 35th Congressional district and surrounding areas.

"I'm deeply concerned by this proposal to reroute a significant percentage of flights from LAX over the communities I represent. I believe that doing so would be detrimental our constituents' quality of life by increasing pollution and aircraft noise," said Rep. Torres. " Many of these communities include vulnerable families who are traditionally overlooked and already face significant hardships."

"I thank my colleagues for joining me on this letter, and we're asking the FAA to consider the impact of increased overflights, noise, and pollution on our local communities," continued Rep. Torres. "It is disturbing that this proposal is moving forward and that almost no consideration has been given to our constituents, who already bear a significant aircraft noise burden from nearby Ontario International Airport."

The proposal, submitted by the Metroplex Ad Hoc Committee on behalf of the LAX Community Noise Roundtable, would reroute flight paths from LAX farther to the east and merge traffic into existing eastern origin traffic bound for final approach at LAX. Under this proposal, approximately 36 percent of flights into LAX would be rerouted over the 35th district and surrounding districts. Congresswoman Torres will continue to be a champion and advocate on behalf of her constituents on mitigating airport noise and air pollution.

For the full text of the letter, click here.