Mesa City Council Approves Falcon Field Landing Fees

The city council in Mesa, Arizona, approved the implementation of landing fees at Falcon Field Airport (KFFZ) this week, a move airport stakeholders allege was conducted “without meaningful collaboration with the operators, schools, and businesses most affected.”

In addition to its normal general aviation activity, KFFZ is a hive of flight training with more than a dozen providers calling it home. Counting VFR piston aircraft traffic, the airport is the busiest general aviation facility in the country, logging nearly 480,000 operations last year.

Some in the industry believe the new fees are motivated by local noise complaints and will serve as a tax on training activities, one that will inevitably pass on to customers.

In a letter to the city council, Thrust Flight, one of the major training providers at KFFZ, expressed disappointment over the ruling, describing it as a new financial barrier at an airport that has long served as a critical entry point for aviation professionals.

“A policy that charges by each landing hits that activity directly and makes the path to certification more expensive and more difficult for the people trying to enter the industry,” the company said, adding that it will affect the entire airport ecosystem. “When policy makes training less viable, the effects spread quickly across instructors, maintenance providers, fuel sales, support staff, and the many businesses tied to airport operations.”