Is Sea-Tac Airport getting quieter due to improved aircraft technology?
Even with the addition of the third runway, the airport’s overall noise footprint continues to decrease. One major contributing factor to reduced noise contours at Sea-Tac is that airlines continue to retire older, noisier aircraft from their fleets and replace them with more modern, quieter, fuel-efficient aircraft. For example, in 2008 Alaska Airlines retired its noisier MD-80 fleet and replaced them with newer, quieter Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
