City delays vote on right turn path

The city of Las Vegas appears close to dropping its legal fight against the right turn flight path out of McCarran International Airport, as it delayed making a formal decision on continuing the costly legal fight for two weeks.

Councilman Steve Wolfson said he wants city residents both under the new departure path and those not affected to give their feedback about what they think.

"I want to receive input from all our constituents," said Wolfson, who represents part of the city where complaints have been most vocal.

Around 200 departing flights per day started the right turn over northwest Las Vegas on March 20.

Residents in the northwest complain of noise and having their quality of life disrupted by the planes flying over their neighborhood.

A similarly vehement response has come from a large section of the rest of the Las Vegas Valley, griping about those complaining.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has supported the legal action, admitted it was hoped the FAA would negotiate with the city to make alterations to the flight path.

But the FAA refused, and briefs are due next month before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"We're at a crossroads now on whether to proceed with litigation," he said.

The city has spent $100,000 so far, and he said that the attorney and consultant the city hired said it would cost another $257,000 to see the litigation through.

Goodman said he was informed by the city's attorney, Barbara Lichman, that the city has a "15 to 20 percent chance of winning."

George Williams, secretary-treasurer with Williams Aviation Consulting, said the new flight path had resulted in delays at McCarran and the North Las Vegas Airport.

In an interview Wednesday, Williams wouldn't say how he knows, but pointed to contacts he made in over 30 years with the FAA. He retired as division manager for the Western Pacific Region, which includes overseeing control towers in California, Arizona, Hawaii and Nevada.

Ian Gregor, spokesman with the FAA, said the agency has seen "nothing out of the ordinary" in flight delays out of McCarran or North Las Vegas. But he said that late Wednesday there wasn't time to do a thorough analysis to determine how many, if any, of the delays were because of the right turn.

Williams also said that callers should continue to call McCarran and FAA noise complaint hot lines with their grievances. In the past, he said, the FAA has had evaluation periods of 60 and 90 days where the agency made decisions on whether to continue a flight path based, in part, on complaints.

Gregor said he couldn't comment on what happened in the past. But officials planned to continue with the right turn.