The Federal Aviation Administration is largely reverting to old routes for many flights departing Phoenix's main airport as the latest step in resolving a yearslong fight over aircraft noise.
The FAA says the re-routing taking effect Thursday for planes departing Sky Harbor International Airport to the west implements an agreement between the agency, the city and residents of historic neighborhoods that objected to increased noise from departure routes implemented in 2014.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the changed routes are for planes taking off to the west and then either continuing westward or turning north.
Phoenix and neighborhood groups last year won a legal victory when a court ruled that that FAA was "arbitrary and capricious" in making the 2014 changes as part of an air traffic modernization plan.
