The FAA’s proposed redesign of Class B airspace in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., continues to leave some unresolved concerns for general aviation including a lowered airspace floor in several sectors that would constrain use of the Stanton, Minn., airport, and flights transitioning through the area, AOPA said. Members are urged to review the proposal and submit comments by a deadline of April 15.
AOPA had noted in comments submitted during public informational sessions on the airspace redesign that despite some progressive measures, the FAA’s proposal to lower the Class B floor from 7,000 feet msl to 6,000 feet msl near Stanton Airport on the airspace’s southern boundary would constrain soaring operations based there.
Making that design element needlessly complex is a boundary with an airspace area that would continue to have a floor of 4,000 feet msl starting several miles east of Stanton Airport, said Melissa McCaffrey, AOPA senior government analyst.
AOPA urged the FAA to incorporate a more uniform airspace floor into the Class B redesign, McCaffrey said. Also, lowering the floor by 1,000 feet in that area as proposed would worsen the compression of traffic transitioning through the area, in which the Class B airspace overlies several general aviation airports.
Members may submit comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking by April 15 online or by mail to U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M–30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001. Please cite FAA Docket No. 2012–1296 and Airspace Docket No. 09–AWA–1, at the beginning of your comments.
Please share your comments with AOPA.
