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
DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable
Tuesday, May 7th, 2024
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
This meeting will be for the voting in of a new Chair and Vice-Chair only.
Please register for the next full
DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable
Tuesday, June 25th, 2024
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
The Roundtable meeting will begin at 7:00pm.
This meeting will be hosted virtually only.
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.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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.
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.
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.
Maryland Legislative District Maps
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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.
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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.
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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.
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For a complete list of FAQs please click here.
- FAA & MDOT MAA Community Outreach Open House, October 27, 2016 – Meeting Summary
- FAA & MDOT MAA Community Outreach Open House, October 27, 2016 – Public Comment Matrix
- FAA Washington DC Metroplex Post-Implementation Analysis (Presentation)
- FAA Washington DC Metroplex Post-Implementation Analysis (February 2017 Document)
- FAA & NATCA – BWI Traffic Analysis and Notional Paths Additional Materials (June 20, 2017)
- FAA & NATCA Presentation to the Roundtable – BWI Traffic Analysis and Notional Paths (June 20, 2017)
- Washington DC Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex (DC OAPM) Environmental Assessment Website
June 2013 Prepared by: United States Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Washington, D.C. - FAA Order 8260.3E – United States Standard for Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS)
- 2015 10 22 – MDOT MAA Executive Director Letter to FAA (including FAA’s March 9, 2016 Response)
- 2016 04 25 – MDOT MAA Executive Director Letter of Response to FAA’s March 9, 2016 Letter (including FAA’s November 9, 2016 Response)
- 2017 03 31 – MDOT MAA Executive Director Letter to FAA advising of the Formation of the Roundtable
- 2017 03 31 – Roundtable Letter to FAA – Roundtable Resolution to Revert to Pre-DC Metroplex/NextGen Procedures
- 2017 04 05 – Anne Arundel County Executive Letter to FAA
- 2017 04 18 – Maryland Congressional Delegation Letter to FAA
- 2017 05 04 – FAA Letter in Response to April 5, 2017 Anne Arundel County Letter
- 2017 05 11 – Maryland Office of the Governor Letter to FAA
- 2017 07 25 – Roundtable Letter to FAA Regarding Remedial Operational Measures
- 2017 08 01 – Maryland Office of the Governor Letter to Secretary of the US Department of Transportation
- 2017 08 01 – Roundtable Letter to Maryland Congressional Delegation
- 2017 08 10 – Baltimore County Executive Letter to FAA
- 2017 09 08 – Roundtable Letter to FAA
- 2017 09 12 – Maryland Office of the Governor Letter to Maryland Attorney General Directing Legal Action
- 2017 09 19 – Anne Arundel County Executive Letter to Maryland Attorney General
- 2017 09 20 – Howard County Executive Letter to Maryland Attorney General
- 2017 10 26 – Maryland Senate Delegation Letter to Maryland Attorney General
- 2017 11 21 – FAA Letter in Response to Roundtable’s September 8, 2017 Letter
- 2017 12 04 – Roundtable Letter to Maryland Office of the Governor
- 2018 04 04 – Maryland Office of the Governor Letter to FAA
- 2019 01 25 – Roundtable Letter to FAA Regional Administrator
- 2019 03 11 – FAA Letter in Response to Roundtable’s January 25, 2019 Letter
- 2019 05 03 – FAA Letter in Response to Roundtable’s March 15, 2019 Email
- 2020 07 02 – FAA Letter to Maryland Attorney General
- 2020 08 14 – FAA Letter to Maryland Attorney General
- 2021 03 15 – Roundtable Letter to FAA in Response to Neighborhood Environmental Survey (NES)
- 2021 09 – MDOT MAA_2021 BWI Aircraft Noise Mitigation Report to General Assembly
- 2021 09 – MDOT MAA_2021 MTN Aircraft Noise Mitigation Report to General Assembly
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.
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – March 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – April 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – May 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – June 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – July 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – August 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – September 2022 – Draft Summary Report
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – October 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – November 2022
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – December 2022 – Executive Summary
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – January 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – February 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – March 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – April 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – May 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – June 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – July 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – August 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – September 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – October 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – November 2023
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – December 2023
- HoCo-AAR Analysis – 2023 Annual Report
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – January 2024
- HoCo-AAR Monthly Analysis – February 2024