Noisy airplanes from Pearson Airport part of life in Oakville, social media users say

Residents of a north Oakville neighbourhood are receiving backlash from their fellow Oakvillians after taking their complaints about planes to the media.

The complaint comes from residents in the River Oaks neighbourhood, near Sixth Line and Dundas St., where more than 200 signatures have been gathered on a petition.

Locals say there’s been a significant increase in planes flying too low above their homes, including overnight.

Members of the Reddit social media group dedicated to Oakville, however, were quick to inject a dose of reality.

“Imagine how the people of Etobicoke and Mississauga feel,” says the most liked comment.

Several others talked about living in areas like Malton and Brampton, many in the pathway of a final approach.

One user claimed to be a pilot based out of Pearson International Airport and provided more information. He commented on the complainant’s view that they shouldn’t have to put up with low-flying planes because they live far enough away from Pearson Airport in Mississauga.

“As an airline pilot based in YYZ, this line made me laugh. To an aircraft travelling at approach speeds this is less than four minutes of flight,” they explained.

“Oakville is actually very close to Pearson. Winds and active approaches dictate where we fly. By changing these paths other people would become ‘inconvenienced’ by the aircraft noise.”

The pilot then went on to say Oakville is a town of NIMBYism.

“If you don’t like being 20 minutes from Canada’s busiest airport, there are plenty of other communities in Canada to choose from. Saying, “It wasn’t like this 20 years ago” doesn’t work as an argument since Oakville and all of the GTA have grown exponentially since then. Urban development brings noise.”

The pilot explained that many of the recent changes that might have caused more planes to fly over Oakville were done to save on fuel and reduce congestion at Pearson.

“While noise abatement is considered, time and fuel savings will be a priority.”

Other commenters were a little less serious with their responses.

“Have we thought about just moving the airport for them?”

“The airport has been there since the 1930s.”

“This is like people complaining about truck traffic on the highways then buying half of Amazon every day.”