FAA asks Arizona city to delay Falcon Field fees
Cites ‘significant concerns’ and potential ‘safety risks’
The FAA has asked the city of Mesa, Arizona—the airport sponsor of Falcon Field—to delay implementation of landing fees that local flight schools say would cost them and their students millions of dollars per year.
In a letter sent on April 13 by the FAA Office of Airport Compliance, Director Michael Helvey told Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman, City Manager Scott Butler, and Airport Director Corinne Nystrom that the agency has “significant concerns” about the plan, which “may be inconsistent with the City’s Federal obligations, both grant assurances and Surplus Property Act conveyance obligations.”
“The City’s landing fees structure may unreasonably interfere with, or limit, legitimate aeronautical activities,” wrote Helvey. “Any attempt to limit operations or specific types of operations, through landing fees, is not permissible. Further, the City’s unusual landing fee structure has the potential for systemwide impacts and thus must be assessed.”
The FAA also said the plan could affect “air traffic management and efficiency in the Phoenix area, and potentially introduce operational safety risks.”
“The imposition of dissuasive landing fees has operational impacts (e.g. diversions, go-arounds, pattern saturation), and could, unless assessed, jeopardize or disrupt the Acceptable Level of Safety (ALoS) under which operations are now conducted, which is an area under FAA jurisdiction,” wrote Helvey.
The FAA said, based on the investigation’s findings, it may open an FAR Part 16 investigation, and pointed out that both Part 13 and Part 16 investigations “may impact the FAA’s ability to fund airport projects.”
In the letter, which has not previously been released, the FAA said at least two Part 13 complaints had already been filed over the landing fee schedule. A separate Part 13 complaint was filed by two flight schools at Falcon Field on May 12, stating that the new fees could cost their students nearly $4 million per year, and requesting that the FAA intervene. AOPA sent a letter supporting their claims on May 28.
“When conducting its investigation and review, the FAA should examine the City’s actions in light of the larger national context of what appears to be a growing and disturbing trend at public-use and federally funded airports across the United States to use landing fees to discourage flight operations and address neighborhood noise complaints. The FAA’s decision on this matter will certainly have a national impact and will influence how other airport sponsors proceed in the future and whether and how fees are imposed,” wrote AOPA General Counsel Fernando Campoamor.
AOPA has been engaged on the Falcon Field issue since the fee proposal emerged in late 2025. Before the vote, AOPA joined the Arizona Pilots Association and the Aviation Safety Advisory Group of Arizona in two letters to the city council—on March 4 and March 20—raising concerns about the city’s financial methodology and requesting a six-month delay to allow for a transparent review of the airport’s financial needs.
In addition, AOPA submitted written testimony to city and airport officials and raised concerns directly with the FAA. The FAA acknowledged those concerns and indicated that a Part 13 or Part 16 complaint would be the appropriate path forward.
