Mr. Freeman,

I've referred to some of your prior remarks as alarmist or fear-mongering. The reason I've characterized them in this negative way is because there is no other possible intention in the "comment" than to scare people.

Your latest comment re: 1 flight per minute has NO perspective and can only serve to agitate an already stressed community.

1) The slot count of 212 is not "yet" confirmed - IF it is, your mathematics will be correct.

2) You do not state a duration for the number of flights occurring 1 minute apart. The new terminal will only (one day) accommodate 10 aircraft - that means that 10 can depart and 10* more can arrive (*when Porter's fleet reaches 20 planes) so that covers 20 minutes if their entire fleet happens to operate in such a compressed manner at one airport - NOT LIKELY. Porter flies to approx 10 destinations from St. John's NFLD to Thunder Bay. The odds of their entire fleet congregating in Toronto within 1 hour is unrealistic at best.

As a reminder to the MANY residents in the airport area and to CAIR, consider the following.

The Tri-Partite Agreement allows for a certain amount of NOISE EXPOSURE based on the NEF contour. Hopefully & soon, the TPA can show everyone the calculations used to substantiate the latest proposed slot increase. For many years, when the airport operated at traffic levels well below those allowed by the NEF contour, and people moved into the neighborhood (including South Beach - directly across the airport) whose fault was it that those buyers didn't research what the airport was ALLOWED to do? Do we blame The Real Estate agent, the developer, Real Estate lawyers or the buyer? Whose responsibility was it to undertake the due diligence of buying near an airport - regardless of the traffic levels both current and historic.

As long as the proposed increase stays within the NEF contours, it cannot be considered expansion. The NEF contour has not changed or grown - it is the same one that was written into the original agreement. The fact that it has been underutilized for years resulted in an unfortunate assumption by many people that this would continue. (explains the inaction of anti-airport Mayor Miller) If several aircraft do operate one minute apart, it means that there will be much larger gaps at other times and that the OVERALL noise exposure will not exceed limits. Also keep in mind that the Noise exposure contour used at the Island is one of the most stringent in the World.

Believe me, I have sincere sympathy to the very real issues people must deal with - engine maintenance runs & curfew violations to name a few. However, commentary that can only cause angst amongst people Who might not know the FACTS is not beneficial to the CAIR cause. No doubt, the airport is getting busier but it is important to recognize that a higher level of activity based on Overall Noise Exposure has always been allowed.

Joe