Purpose

The DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable is an initiative of the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Aviation Administration (MDOT MAA), formed at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  The Roundtable shall be responsible for the following:

  • Monitoring the implementation of air traffic procedures established by FAA in the District of Columbia Metroplex Project, including but not limited to the procedures implemented under the NextGen program;
  • Identifying possible alternative routings and procedures;
  • Evaluating noise effects and other environmental effects, of possible route changes; and
  • Making recommendations to the FAA for further consideration.

Please register for the next full

DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable

Tuesday, January 21st, 2025
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST

The Roundtable meeting will begin at 7:00pm. Members of the Roundtable are required to attend in-person.
This meeting will be hosted virtually and in person for the general public. Virtual attendees will be kept in listen only mode and will not be unmuted during the meeting.

The address for in-person attendance is
991 Corporate Blvd,
Linthicum Heights, MD 21090.

After registering, if you do not receive an almost immediate confirmation of your registration, please contact Bruce Rineer at brineer@bwiairport.com. Your unique link can then be sent to you.

Register

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

For in-person attendees, the meeting will be held at
991 Corporate Blvd,
Linthicum Heights, MD 21090

Representatives from impacted legislative districts have been appointed by your elected officials to represent your community. The meeting Agenda, any presentations and approved meeting minutes will be posted to this page following the meeting.

BWI Roundtable
Past Meetings
and Related Meeting Docs
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Roundtable
Charter
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Roundtable Roster and Contact Information
Maryland Legislative District Maps

2021 BWI Roundtable Annual Report
2020 BWI Roundtable Annual Report
2019 BWI Roundtable Annual Report
2018 BWI Roundtable Annual Report
2017 BWI Roundtable Annual Report

  • What is NextGen?

    NextGen is the FAA’s action plan to modernize the national airspace system. This effort is composed of many different programs and initiatives including the use of satellite-based technology. More information on NextGen is available on the FAA’s NextGen homepage at https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/.

    In 2014 the FAA began to roll out a number of performance-based navigation procedures for aircraft arriving and departing BWI Marshall Airport. These procedures use satellite technology to provide more precise positional information to the pilot and air traffic controllers, increasing the margin of safety and efficiency of the airspace.

  • What is being done by MDOT MAA at BWI Marshall Airport to mitigate noise impacts?

    The implementation of NextGen led to a considerable increase in noise complaints at BWI Marshall. As a result, MDOT MAA supported the facilitation of a community roundtable, the DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable, comprised of community members and industry. The Community Roundtable has met continuously since 2017 and has worked tirelessly to effect change.

    Additionally, MDOT MAA manages the Homeowners Assistance Program which has historically included the Residential Sound Insulation Program, Resale Assurance Program, and a Voluntary Acquisition Program. The Homeowners Assistance Program is currently on hiatus as MDOT MAA prepares for the next phase of the Residential Sound Insulation Program which is anticipated to begin in 2020. The Resale Assurance Program was concluded in 2008.

    More information on these programs can be found here.
  • New Departure Procedures from BWI Marshall Airport Effective July 11, 2024

    On July 11th, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published new Performance Based Navigation (PBN) departure procedures out of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The departure procedures are part of changes that have been under consideration since 2018.

    The FAA intends to publish new arrival and approach procedures in September 2024.

    In 2014 the FAA began to roll out a number of performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures for aircraft arriving and departing BWI Marshall Airport, otherwise known as NextGen. These procedures use satellite technology to provide more precise positional information to the pilot and air traffic controllers, increasing the margin of safety and efficiency of the airspace.

    The implementation of these procedures led to a considerable increase in noise complaints and community input. As a result, the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA), at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) formed a community roundtable, the DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable, comprised of community and aviation industry members. The Roundtable has met continuously since 2017 and has worked tirelessly to influence change.

    The MAA, working with its consultants and the Roundtable technical committee, completed an analysis of the arrival and departure procedures that had been implemented by the FAA. During the analysis period, the FAA proposed updated departure procedures that the MAA and Roundtable reviewed and found acceptable.

    One of the goals of the Roundtable was to move flight tracks back to pre-NextGen dispersion levels. While this was not possible, the FAA proposed adding a new departure procedure which, when included with the other departure procedures, will provide for some level of dispersion. These updates mainly affect flights heading west out of BWI Marshall and overflying Howard County.

    The main Standard Instrument Departure Procedure (SID) used out of BWI Marshall for aircraft heading west is the TERPZ SID. The FAA updated procedure is to add the LINSE SID. The LINSE SID will move aircraft further south off of the TERPZ SID thus providing some dispersion of flights along those flight paths. The TERPZ SID is expected to be utilized 74% of the time with the LINSE SID being utilized the remaining 26% of the time. The departure procedure changes are set to go into effect July 11, 2024.

    Additionally, the MAA and the Roundtable proposed updated arrival and approach procedures to the FAA for aircraft arriving at BWI Marshall. In November of 2019 the Roundtable reviewed a noise and technical analysis of the proposed arrival and approach procedure changes and favorably voted to submit the proposed procedure changes to the FAA. Those procedures were successfully submitted to the FAA and after a thorough review by the FAA are set to be implemented September 5, 2024.

    The anticipated benefits of the procedure changes include: increased higher aircraft altitudes on arrival and approach, fewer instances of aircraft flying large distances to the airport at lower altitudes, reduced/near-idle engine power settings do to continuous descents, better distribution of approach operations and the relocation of flight paths with the potential to reduce cumulative community noise exposure.

  • For a complete list of FAQs please click here.

Howard and Anne Arundel Counties hired Vianair to help analyze flight activity in and out of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. In coordination with representatives from the two counties and support from the BWI Roundtable, Vianair developed the following report which includes the analysis of key elements (operational and acoustic elements) to help the community understand the existing noise exposure and to provide the ability to track changes over time.

MDOT MAA hosts the information for availability but is not responsible for the content.