The COVID-19 pandemic brought the skies above Sedona to an unfamiliar level of quiet as all varieties of air traffic significantly slowed — everything from international overflights to jaunts in private two-seaters — when various states’ stay-at-home proclamations were in effect.
Many liked what they heard — or didn’t hear — in the sky during those months.
As travel slowly restarts, backers of the recently announced Fly Friendly agreement with the two Sedona-based helicopter tour companies are hopeful that the voluntary compact will prevent overall aircraft noise from returning to pre-pandemic levels.
But that outcome depends a lot on the effectiveness of the deal’s voluntary tweaks to helicopter tour protocols in impacting air traffic noise.
The compact could theoretically increase the volume of air tours from Sedona Airport, because one of the carrots for the two tour operators’ compliance is a commitment by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce to promote the air tours in its publications to the tune of $25,000 per company.
Eric Brunner, owner of Sedona Air Tours, one of the signatories to the agreement, said that he appreciates the support offered by the chamber and the opportunity to better the community, but he’s concerned the chamber is overselling the idea that the Fly Friendly agreement has created a “No-Fly Zone” over Sedona.
He pointed out that only the FAA can create a no-fly zone, or place restrictions of any kind on the air space above Sedona.
So while Sedona Air Tours and Guidance Air Tours, the other signatory, are avoiding overflights of Sedona’s residential areas, the wide assortment of other pilots who visit or fly over Sedona may be less courteous. He’s worried that when other aircraft fly over Sedona, residents will assume the tour operators are breaking the agreement.
“I think there will still be [noise] impacts,” Sedona Airport General Manager Ed Rose said of aircraft not in the agreement.
Rose said that before the shutdown, he responded personally to a dozen or so noise complaints weekly. As things take off again, he believes the tour operators’ new routes to the Coconino National Forest and noise reduction protocols will make a difference.
That’s because Rose estimated that 95% of noise complaints involved helicopters, suggesting a reduction in helicopter noise could have a large impact on nuisance sounds.
The airport is also promoting the Fly Friendly recommendations to pilots outside the agreement.
There’s a prominent “noise abatement” tab on the airport’s website containing the “no fly-zone” map and other noise reduction recommendations, and Rose said he plans to add signs on either end of the airport’s taxiway reminding pilots — just before they take off — that Sedona is a noise-sensitive community.
Multiple people familiar with the Fly Friendly agreement said the changes will be most noticeable to residents of the subdivisions directly northeast of the airport, including Rolling Hills Estates and Les Springs, since the tour operators will no longer access the National Forest by crossing the city northeast of the airport.
“That was a pretty easy fix,” said Jamaica Bergstrom, chief pilot and general manager for Guidance Air Tours. Bergstrom, a native of Cottonwood and Sedona who lives in West Sedona, said that she was already instructing her pilots to avoid overflying residential areas.
She said adhering to the routing in the agreement will not have a significant financial impact on the company.
Residents can see the full Fly Friendly map on redrocknews.com or learn more at sedonaairnoise.com, a website managed by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce.
