San Francisco International Airport (SFIA or SFO) now has a toll-free hotline 1-(877) 206-8290 for area residents to report "perceived aircraft noise". A monthly report will be given to the mayors of each city affected by aircraft approach noise regarding the number of calls, the number of callers, the time of calls, and other pertinent data, e.g., such as the names of the airlines corresponding to the complaints. Therefore, it is important that South Peninsula residents begin at once to monitor the noise. After calling the number, answer the questions as directed. You may keep a detailed list and phone once a day, once every several days, or with every incident. Be specific: 1) The time of the incident -- from "when" to "when" 2) The place or address where the caller was when he/she heard and/or observed the incident. Note: SFIA can pinpoint the caller's location on a plot map and know which plane was at that place at that time. 3) Any distinguishing features of the aircraft -- 4-engine, 2-engine, colors, logos. 4) At night--can you see the lights shining through the cabin windows? 5) Did your house vibrate? Windows vibrate? When you were outside, did you have to wait to finish a conversation? (These things happen regularly.) Were you awakened at night? Early morning? With summer over and residents inside, there may be less "perceived noise". However, residents are asked to be diligent. If there is no "perceived noise" reported, SFIA will have less incentive to change routes or mitigate noise over the Peninsula. The new SFIA International Terminal should open next year. It will provide many more "gate slots" for more international carriers and more flights. The number of big aircraft will drastically increase over the next few years. So will the noise. This toll-free hotline has been requested for several years. Now there is one, and residents are asked to do their part with detailed reporting. CLIP AND SAVE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SFO Toll-free Noise Hotline 1-877-206-8290 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Also, what follows is the url for an Op-Ed piece in the October 27 edition of the SF Chronicle by Deborah Wilder, Mayor of Foster City, "Airport Round Table Gives Citizens the Runaround". http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/10/27/ED91778.DTL