Airport noise issues may be addressed directly to the airport contacts listed as well as to the City contacts at right. In addition to coordination by the City Manager's Office, a City Councilmember is appointed to the LAX Community Noise Roundtable (bi-monthly meetings) and Hawthorne Municipal Airport KHHR Communities Network Committee (quarterly meetings) to address noise issues affecting Hermosa Beach.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

The City Manager’s Office has been in contact with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the Federal Aviation of Administration (FAA) to voice our concerns and identify the causes of the recent increase in noise. Both agencies have identified the cause as airplanes departing from the east runway of LAX, rather than the main westerly runway which directs planes directly over the ocean. These individual easterly departures usually occur when the tail wind is too great for the weight of the aircraft and a departure to the east is required for aircraft safety. This is most common during the winter months. Additionally, the increased moisture in the air during winter months reverberates the sound waves and thus amplifies the noise of the airplanes. 

LAX Runway Closures - December 2019 to January 2020 

LAX is also currently modernizing and performing maintenance on its runways to meet FAA standards. LAWA has advised construction and closures of certain runways may impact aircraft flight activity patterns and associated noise over South Bay communities including Hermosa Beach through January 2020:

Sign up to Receive Notifications from LAX Noise Management

The LAX Noise Management webpage offers a new feature allowing individuals in the community to sign up to receive email notifications regarding aircraft flight activity and other aircraft noise-related information. This is part of the airport's effort to keep LAX neighbors informed and to promote public awareness and understanding of aircraft noise issues.

The process for signing up is simple. Just visit LAX Noise webpage and look for the “Aircraft Noise Notifications” form to input the required information (email address, city and zip code) and then click the subscribe button. 

File a Noise Complaint with LAX

While the City is working with LAX and the FAA, we highly encourage residents to report cases of noise violations, as this helps us advocate on our resident’s behalf. After an incident, one may access the LAX WebTrak Site, identify the time of day to get the flight information, and submit a complaint. By taking these steps, the FAA is able to determine the cause of the complaint and adjust accordingly.
 
There are multiple options for reporting a noise violation associated with LAX:
  1. Fill out the LAX Noise Comment Form.
  2. Access the LAX WebTrak Site. From this live flight tracking website, users can view and identify aircraft operations and perform self-investigation. The online complaint form can be accessed by clicking on the “Complaints” tab located on the top left hand corner, then the “Complaint Form” button. More information on WebTrak may be found here.
  3. Call into the 24-hour LAX Noise Complaint Line (424) 64-NOISE or (424) 646-6473
  4. Download the LAX Mobile Web App. from your iPhone or Android mobile device, click on the link: https://www.lawa.org/laxanc
Mobile Web App Instructions:
  1. Save the app to your home screen:
    From iPhone: Tap the box with vertical arrow and select add to home screen
    From Android: Tap the 3 Menu dots and select save to homepage
  2. Go to your home screen and open the new complaint mobile web app
  3. Enter your complaint information following Steps 1-4 and click Submit
Note: After using the app the first time, user information is saved and does not need to be re-entered. Additional complaints can be submitted by tapping "Create a New Comment."

LAX Community Noise Roundtable

The City Council appoints a Councilmember to serve as Hermosa Beach's representative on the LAX Community Noise Roundtable which meets on a bi-monthly basis to reduce and mitigate airport noise.

Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR)

Hawthorne Municipal Airport is operated by the City of Hawthorne and is located at 12101 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250.  

Noise issues may be reported:

KHHR Communities Network Committee

In December 2018, the Hawthorne City Council created a 17-member standing committee, to meet quarterly to address Hawthorne Municipal Airport noise issues. Hermosa Beach is represented on this committee by an appointed City Councilmember.

In June 2019, the Hawthorne Municipal Airport received a $307,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to study the impact of airport noise on surrounding neighborhoods.

Community Workshop: Hawthorne Airport Noise Compatibility Study

The first community workshop for this study will be held on:

November 14, 2019 from 6-8 PM at the
Hawthorne Memorial Center - Polaris Room - (3901 W. El Segundo Blvd)

The part 150 NEM (Noise Exposure Map) and NCP (Noise Compatibility Program) - is in progress now for Hawthorne Airport. This is a Federal Regulation, airports need to meet, for continued FAA approval and FAA grants to expand business uses and Fleet changes (types of aircraft).

This mandated Community Outreach program is designed to evaluate the existing and future (forecasted) aircraft conditions and prepares a plan to study ways to reduce aircraft noise impacts through the application of noise abatement techniques and to mitigate noise impacts on existing land uses.

The workshop will introduce the public to the study process and provide opportunity for questions and comments.