Flint, MI Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

Aircraft noise in Flint is governed by federal law, not Chapter 31. Section 31-77(e) of the Flint Code expressly exempts 'aircraft and trains' from the Article II prohibitions. The U.S. Supreme Court in City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal, 411 U.S. 624 (1973), held that 49 U.S.C. Section 40103 (federal sovereignty over airspace) preempts municipal time-of-day curfews and pilot regulation by non-proprietor cities. Bishop International Airport (FAA LID FNT, ICAO KFNT) is located at 3425 W Bristol Road in southwestern Flint, but the airport property is largely surrounded by Flint Township and Mundy Township rather than wholly inside the City of Flint corporate limits. The airport has two asphalt runways: 9/27 (longest, recently rebuilt) and 18/36. The Bishop International Airport Authority (BIAA), created in 1987 by the City of Flint and Genesee County, is the airport operator and proprietor for purposes of the limited proprietor exception recognized in Burbank. The proper framework for noise-compatibility planning is the FAA's 14 CFR Part 150 Airport Noise Compatibility Planning program. Low-altitude complaints (alleged violations of 14 CFR Section 91.119 minimum safe altitudes) go to the FAA Detroit Flight Standards District Office, not Flint Police.