Our Opinion: Flight changes a positive move by D-M leaders

Tucsonans should notice quieter skies after a change in flight altitudes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The change came about because base leaders promised to work with the city to improve an often contentious relationship.

Col. Kent Laughbaum, commander of the 355th Wing at D-M, ordered the changes Wednesday. His action puts in place one of the main proposals made last fall by the Military-Community Compatibility Committee.

In a governmental and bureaucratic environment where the smallest changes often take eons to push through, Laughbaum's swift action is laudable. And he said this is not an isolated incident, promising, in a meeting with the Tucson Citizen Editorial Board, "We're going to be good neighbors to this town."

Laughbaum ordered that planes following a landing path over a wide swath of Tucson north and east of the base fly 500 feet higher. The order applies to all small military planes, such as A-10s and F-16s. Those planes make up the vast majority of landings at the base and generate the most noise complaints.

Laughbaum also said helicopters leaving the base will head west above Interstate 10 instead of going over 22nd Street, thus reducing noise over large residential areas.

The changes are significant and will make life quieter for many Tucsonans. Even more significant is the attitude of Laughbaum and others at D-M who promised to work with the community that has grown up around the base.

D-M became a base in 1925, when the military flew prop planes and Tucson was a community of 30,000 people. Growth on both sides has strained the needed working relationship between the city and the base.

That started to change with formation of the Military-Community Compatibility Committee. The group, made up of Air Force officers, supporters of the base and concerned neighbors, tackled the problems head on and came up with a commendable package of recommendations.

Laughbaum promised to look at all the recommendations and implement those that will not compromise safety or the base's mission. That's good news.

Davis-Monthan being a good neighbor in Tucson is important because the base is an important part of the community.