☆ Hear that? If not, it’s thanks in part to local activist Tony Guan.
When new flight routes started to rattle the skies above Sunnyvale and Cupertino, one local activist led the charge to push back. A voice for residents who felt helpless, Tony Guan and his grassroots team spent years fighting federal bureaucracies, to restore some measure of peace and quiet. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Opportunity Now: A lot of people get into local politics to deal with facts on the ground. But you got pulled in by something happening in the sky that was impossible to ignore. How did that start?
Tony Guan: Back in 2016 we started a group working on the airplane noise issue for the local communities such as Sunnyvale and Cupertino. We advocated to stop the FAA from shifting all the flight routes over the Sunnyvale area.
ON: Was there a moment when you realized just how important this issue is?
TG: At one of the meetings, an elderly lady from Sunnyvale shared a very touching story about her husband who was on his deathbed. He felt responsible for the house they had bought, and he apologized to her, telling her, ‘Sorry, darling. When we bought this house, I never thought it would be like this, with noise right over our heads. I'm sorry. I cannot change that for you. I cannot do anything about it for you.’
That was the most heartbreaking thing to hear.
ON: It really affects quality of life.
TG: Looking back, I'm still amazed by how bold we were. We started off talking with members of congress, FAA people, and federal agents to try to stop the new flight routes. We had to learn a lot about airspace, regulation, how to monitor the noise, and how to monitor all the routes. That’s a lot of work and a lot of learning. We worked on all three airports around this area, SFO, SJC, and SQL (that’s a smaller one in San Carlos).
ON: How long did that go on for?
TG: It was a long time fighting. I think that fight kept on for two or three years.
ON: Did you ever want to give up?
TG: Like, every day. I was so tired, I was ready to give up. But there would always be some kind of moment, or conversation, to push me to keep going for one more day, one more rally, one more meeting.
ON: Did you succeed in reducing airplane noise for people in the Sunnyvale area?
TG: Luckily, we did succeed to some extent. We worked on all three airports and made some progress there, the route expansions from SQL, SJC, and SFO were paused.
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