NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After nearly two years of complaints about increased airplane noise over South Nashville neighborhoods, a new Metro Council resolution is calling on the Nashville International Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration to work with residents over the controversial flight path changes.
District 4 Metro Council member Mike Cortese filed the resolution as residents in communities including Crieve Hall, Oak Hill, Nipper’s Corner, Bradford Hills, Whispering Hills and Forest Hills about the number and frequency of planes passing close over their homes.
“My goal really is to really bring the voices together to make sure our communities have a voice at the table,” Cortese told News 2.
The FAA began testing new departure headings in 2024 before implementing changes in 2025. According to the resolution, some residents have reported seeing more than 150 flights a day over their neighborhoods.
Cortese said residents have also measured noise from passing planes at levels reaching 90 to 100 decibels.
“When they are as low as they are and the decibels are reaching over 100 decibels, that can be a real disruption, especially when these flights are coming in over 150 per day,” Cortese said.
The resolution asks the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority to collaborate with the FAA to review the effects of the flight patterns on affected neighborhoods and continue providing residents with updates.
However, Cortese acknowledged neither Metro Council nor the airport authority has the power to change the departure headings themselves.
“The Council and Airport Authority do not have any authority over this issue, but we do want to be partners with the FAA,” Cortese said.
Cortese said his goal is not simply to move aircraft noise from one Nashville neighborhood to another. Instead, he wants residents involved in discussions about possible mitigation, including whether planes could fly higher over residential areas or departures could be distributed differently.
“This is not about moving it to your neighborhood,” Cortese said. “This is about mitigating efforts, making sure we’re all speaking into this.”
The resolution comes as some of the same in federal court.
The City of Oak Hill, Course Correct Nashville, the Crieve Hall Neighborhood Association and neighborhood association president Kelly Insana filed a petition for review against the FAA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
???? Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts →
Insana said Metro Council’s involvement gives residents another avenue to raise their concerns.
“Any support is good support, and broad awareness is good,” Insana said.
Insana said residents are not asking for airplanes to stop flying over their neighborhoods. Instead, they question why so many departures are concentrated along the same heading.
According to Insana, data gathered by the group shows that on days the departure heading they have organized around is in use, it accounts for 52% of departures.
“Why does one flight path have 52% of the departures if there’s others to choose from?” Insana said.
However, the resolution could change before Metro Council takes final action.
A proposed amendment would remove references in the resolution to residents reporting more than 150 flights per day and noise levels reaching 90 decibels.
It would also replace the request that the airport authority collaborate with the FAA to review the effects of flight patterns. Instead, the amended version would ask the airport authority to provide the FAA with residents’ concerns, make aircraft and noise information available to the public, and notify impacted residents about future FAA changes to departures.
The amendment would also add language stating that the FAA has told several state and local elected officials that the departure headings implemented in 2025 are final.
Insana said she had only recently received the amendment when she spoke with News 2 and had not yet fully reviewed it, but pushed back on the idea that the issue is settled.
???? Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts →
“I just don’t think anything is ever final,” Insana said.
For Cortese, the resolution is about giving residents a larger voice in a decision ultimately controlled by the federal government.
“Flight patterns are going to continue to change. Nashville is going to continue to grow,” Cortese said. “I want to make sure we are in those discussions going forward.”
A Change.org petition by Course Correct Nashville has now gained more than 1,600 signatures.