NAPLES, Fla. — Many people who live near the Naples Airport say the flights coming in and out are frequent and noisy. The city and the airport are now working together to make some changes. So far, it starts with leadership.
It comes just after a summer of conversation about moving the airport all-together, striking up contention between the two entities.
Beth Petrunoff is a Naples City Councilor.
"We are going to be making a decision on who we are going to pick for the Naples Airport Authority, she said.
It's a group that makes policies for the Naples Airport. She says they're picking an Airport Executive Director on Wednesday, to lead the authority.
"There were 8 candidates that came forward. Many of them are pilots. Many of them were pilots that flew multiple aircraft, or were from the military," she said.
She says the airport has about 123,000 flights a year. While, many of those flights are private, that's more traffic than RSW. This person being chosen for the NAA will work to think of ways to lower noise levels.
"For example, fly higher faster, what does that mean? That's one of the potential solutions of the submitted to the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and that means you are pushing the throttle to go up higher, faster and get higher over population," Petrunoff said.
Speaking of that population, people who live nearby have been asking for a solution to the noise for years. People like Joseph Migliara, with the Old Naples Association, who spoke to FOX4 this summer.
"That small site that we have, which is only one square mile in today's airport, has fundamentally outgrown its size," he said.
