Lakeland OKs deal with Avelo Airlines. Noise complaints rumble in the background

LAKELAND ― Lakeland officials are onboard with Avelo Airlines offering commercial flights out of Lakeland Linder International Airport, but some residents remain grounded with concerns about noise.

The City Commission voted "enthusiastically and unanimously" on Monday to approve an operations agreement between Avelo and Lakeland Linder. It's a 15-year contract to bring passenger air service to Lakeland starting in May 2024, with an optional five-year extension if both parties agree.

"Our purpose is to inspire travel. We do so by providing safe, convenient, reliable and affordable travel for customers in the communities we serve," said Trevor Yealy, Avelo's head of commercial. "There is no better potential for that safe, affordable, convenient, reliable travel than the opportunity here at Lakeland Linder International Airport."

Avelo has been looking at the Lakeland-Winter Haven area as one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas for several years running, Yealy said.

The ultra low-budget carrier strategically focuses on serving "secondary markets," Yealy said, or highly urban and suburban areas near major cities. Its bases include Los Angeles' Hollywood Burbank Airport, Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Airport, Delaware Valley's Wilmington Airport, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Orlando International Airport.

Learn about Avelo: What you need to know about the low-cost airline coming to Lakeland Linder

"When we were looking at airports across the country at what opportunities exist, this is certainly one of the low-hanging fruits so to speak in terms of serving large, growing, vibrant communities but with an airport that's entirely untapped so far," he said.

Avelo has not provided any details on what destinations it will fly to from Lakeland, how frequently or at what cost. Yealy said specific route information will be unveiled in the upcoming months.

The commission approved an Airline Carrier Incentive Program to Avelo to waive rent and the airport's landing, per-turn and fuel-flowage fees based on the number of passengers it brings through the terminal doors.

For Avelo to achieve no-cost operations at Lakeland Linder after the first two years, Airport Director Kris Hallstrand said the carrier would have to move 22,050 people per month through the terminal.

While many Lakeland officials and staff are excited, some residents are concerned about the noise inherent in adding more jet traffic to Lakeland Linder.

"I have nothing against Lakeland getting a passenger airline service, it would be great," said attorney Trey Harden, a Lakeland resident. "It's compounding the issue with Amazon jet noise. They say they are going to fix the problem, but are adding more planes. Why don't they address the noise issues before they increasingly add more flights?"

Harden was not able to attend Monday's commission meeting. He submitted three pages of written comments to commissioners via email.

"Private studies regarding Lakeland Linder’s current aircraft operations indicate that, on average, approximately 581 Amazon Boeing 737’s and 767’s fly into and out of the airport each month," he wrote in a Dec. 15 email. "Noise modelling technology also indicates that many of these flights exceed 75 decibels over several densely populated areas within the Lakeland city limits. These numbers are sufficient to create a nuisance to Lakeland residents that reside in the affected areas."

Lakeland residents have complained about the thunderous rumble of low-flying jets over the city since at least January 2021, less than six months after Amazon began its cargo freight operations.

Avelo Airlines owns a fleet of 16 Boeing 737s. Of these planes, Boeing 737-700s carry 147 passengers and Boeing 737-800s carry up to 189, Hallstrand said. They are the same size as Amazon's smaller, bright blue cargo jets.

Lakeland Linder staff and city officials began working on developing an alternate approach, which would ideally have planes come south over South Florida Avenue and turn to travel west over the Polk Parkway. The Federal Aviation Administration rejected the airport's attempt to implement a visual approach in December 2021.

The city then hired Texas-based contractor Hughes Aerospace Corp. to map out the route in detail. Hallstrand said the route and public feedback gathered at the Nov. 16 forum have been sent to the FAA, which is roughly 80% through its review. The plans must also undergo an approved environmental review before being accepted and published for use.

The proposed alternative take off and departure plan will, hopefully, be approved by late winter or early 2024, Hallstrand said.

Harden and other Lakeland residents are more cautious about the speed of approval and whether the new plan will offer noise relief.

"It still causes aircraft to fly at low altitudes over densely populated areas of the City," Harden wrote. "Further, no hard data exists to support the City’s position that noise from jet aircraft will be abated."

Lakeland resident Rick Garrity wrote in a Dec. 17 email asking commissioners to delay approval of the city's new contract with Avelo until the new air corridor pathways were approved and they secure assurance that Avelo's pilots would use the new flight path.

City officials and staff made no mention of Garrity's comments during Monday's public discussion.

"Aircraft noise is a concern of some in the community, and I completely understand. We are doing our best to minimize that," Hallstrand told commissioners on Monday.

The airport director stressed the city is "not responsible for the sky," and even when the new takeoff and departure paths are published, it cannot force pilots to use them.

"We are encouraging all our partners to use this approach," she said.

Issues such as strong headwinds, bad weather conditions, conflicting air traffic and other issues could potentially deter pilots from using an airport's preferred approach.

"We cannot have operations of cargo or passenger service without having some level of noise. It’s inherent to the business of an airport," Hallstrand said. "We are working to mitigate that."

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland OKs deal with Avelo Airlines, but noise complaints resurface