Community Engagement — Northern California Airspace Public Workshop

August 10, 2021 Update

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hosted Northern California Airspace Virtual Public Information Workshops on July 20 and 21, 2021. A total of 413 people joined the workshops via Zoom. Additionally, the FAA broadcasted the workshops on Facebook Live, Twitter, and YouTube. The broadcast was accessed by 42,862 people. These social media platforms were used for promoting the workshops as well. A total of 171,866 social media impressions were received on the promotion for the workshops. The workshops allowed the FAA to share with the public a holistic review of operations, challenges, and constraints around some of the busiest and most complex airspace in the United States. The FAA held the workshops to complement its ongoing engagement with Bay Area communities through three forums: SFO Airport/Community Roundtable, the Oakland Airport/Community Noise Management Forum, and the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz Roundtable. The Virtual Public Information Workshop was not part of any environmental review process conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act; and was informational only.

Topics and Panelists

Panelists included representatives from the FAA, San Francisco International Airport, Oakland International Airport, and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, airline and cargo carriers, and the Air Line Pilots Association.

The FAA provided a detailed explanation of the operation and interaction among the area's three major airports. Panelists discussed how factors such as weather, terrain, airport surface limits, and military airspace create many of the challenges and constraints in the Northern California airspace. Additionally, the FAA provided an update on some key recommendations from the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals that area members of Congress established, as well as from community roundtables. Airline representatives provided perspective on operational issues and decision making that takes place in the cockpit. They also provided answers on various frequently asked questions. Each workshop included a live question-and-answer session using the Zoom Q&A feature.

Topics included the following:

  • San Francisco Class B Airspace Redesign
  • CNDEL departure
  • SUNNE departure
  • NIITE/HUSSH departure
  • BDEGA In Trail spacing
  • "Down the Bay"
  • Time Based Flow Management
  • PIRAT arrival
  • BRIXX arrival
  • RNAV Visual to Runway 28 Left
  • WNDSR arrival
  • SERFR arrival

You can view the video playlist with information on each topic from the workshop.

You can also access the complete recorded workshops on the YouTube using the links below, or by navigating to "videos" on the FAA's Facebook page.

Workshop Supplemental Materials

Last updated: Monday, November 25, 2024