The flow of traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has a major impact on which communities are most impacted by aircraft noise. Atlanta's five runways, 9R/27L, 9L/27R, 8R/26L, 8L/26R and 10/28, are all oriented in an east/west direction. Because of this, communities directly to the east and west of Hartsfield Airport are most impacted by aircraft noise. Winds determine whether planes are landing toward the west or east on any given day; as such, the most impacted area may change from day to day. Generally speaking, airplanes coming in to land are slightly quieter, but this factor is offset by the fact that the aircrafts' landing patterns are closer to the ground than departure angles.
Communities close in to Atlanta on the east side of the field are mostly located in Clayton and DeKalb counties. These include Forest Park, Conley, Lake City, Ellenwood, Hapeville, Gilbert Gardens and the Fort Gillem area. All the communities east of the airport and west of I-675 face the highest impact, as they are directly under the flight path of departing and arriving airplanes. Much of this area is industrial and commercial in nature. East of I-675 the area is less populated so noise pollution has less impact there. As distance increases from the airport, noise pollution decreases.
By far the largest community impacted by noise to the west of the airport is College Park, Georgia. Fulton County takes much of the noise pollution to the west of the airport. Communities other than College Park that receive noise include Red Oak, Union City and some parts of East Point. Areas directly west of the airport are mostly rural and, as such, noise impact is not too high.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is keenly aware of its impact on neighboring communities and ranks noise mitigation as one of its top priorities. The airport has had an active noise-mitigation program since the 1970s. Some of the program's accomplishments include the implementation of noise-mitigating flight paths, acquisition and relocation of severely impacted communities, procedures to mitigate nighttime noise, and installing sound insulation in more than 10,000 buildings in the surrounding area. FAA-imposed tighter noise controls have also resulted in improvements for surrounding communities.
