Has the Philadelphia International Airport considered charging landing fees based on the noise of the aircraft?
There are several issues associated with enabling an airport to assess noise based landing fees. First, for an airport to propose noise-based landing fees it would have to be based on noise impacts to areas within the 65 Day-Night Sound Level or above. Assuming that was the case, pricing would have to be significant enough to affect air carrier behavior. Based on studies done for congestion management, it is apparent that fees would have to be fairly substantial for carriers to alter their behavior. The requirement for costs to remain “revenue neutral” is likely to prohibit setting fees high enough to alter carrier behavior (airports cannot lose or gain revenue based on landing fees, i.e. revenue must equal cost). In addition, most carriers simply pass on the fees to passengers rather than alter their behavior. Also, before an airport could begin implementing noise based landing fees, it would first be required to undergo a Part 161 study to evaluate potential access restrictions this
