New Falcon Field Fees Spark Industry Backlash

After weeks of rumors and speculation, the Mesa City Council voted on March 23 to approve the integration of landing fees at Falcon Field (KFFZ), leaving flight schools and pilots based at the airport in a state of flux as the measure could drastically discourage operations at one of Arizona’s most active facilities for training. 

Beginning on May 1 flight operations involving fixed-wing aircraft at or under 6,000 pounds based at the airport will pay $20.35 per landing, and itinerant fixed-wing aircraft at or under 6,000 pounds will pay $24.35 per landing. Aircraft based at the airport are exempt from fees pertaining to their first 10 landings, as are government aircraft and flights supporting government operations. 

The pending start date could be delayed up to 90 days while the airport searches for a contractor to track landings. 

According to the Mesa City Council and airport officials, the new fees are being implemented to ensure Falcon Field remains self-sustaining and proactively accounts for a looming budget shortfall. Presently, the airport has been able to operate with a balanced budget for years partly due to proceeds generated from a 2006 land sale and deferring other projects. 

However, officials insisted that funds from the land sale will be exhausted within the next few years, and necessary projects at the airport cannot be delayed any further, resulting in a more than $2 million gap the airport will need to account for annually. 

City council officials estimate that the new fees will generate more than $2.6 million annually, based on documents released. 

Among the most incensed opponents of the fees are the numerous flight schools and business based at the airport that claim the measure will make it substantially more difficult for them to operate, and, in some cases, could cause operations to be shuttered entirely. 

Thrust Flight, one of Falcon Field’s largest training schools, released a statement in response to the airport’s decision.

“Thrust Flight is disappointed by the Mesa City Council’s decision to adopt landing fees at Falcon Field,” Thrust Flight said. “This vote creates a new financial barrier for flight training at an airport that has long served as a critical entry point for students, instructors, and aviation professionals. Training flights are built around repetition. 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.”

Instructor Brent Crow stated that 80 percent of traffic at Falcon Field comes from flight training and, if the fees happen to push a significant portion of that activity elsewhere, the airport won’t see the expected revenue gains, according to the Mesa Tribune.

“Those aircraft will have no choice but to move their flight training flights elsewhere…the airport will lose federal funding because the grants that the airport receives depend on operation counts, and the remaining tenants will face even higher expenditures,” Crow said. “Rather than strengthening Falcon Field, the fee would weaken it financially.”

Opponents of the fees also insist that the move was a punitive one, carried out to address complaints of noise by nearby residents. 

The city has said on many occasions that the decision to impose landing fees was not due to noise complaints, according to KNXV-TV in Phoenix.

Opposition to the fees spans beyond the Greater Phoenix area. Due to Falcon Field’s outsized influence on the broader aviation community, being one of the largest flight training grounds in one of the largest flight training states, there’s concern that the decision could serve as a model for other airports to consider and potentially adopt in the future. 

Thrust Flight said it will continue to push leaders to adopt a more reasonable approach that benefits both the airport and surrounding businesses that rely on it. 

“Thrust Flight remains committed to the students and professionals who depend on Falcon Field,” the school said. “We will continue engaging with city leaders, airport stakeholders, and the broader community to push for a more practical approach, one that respects residents while preserving access to high-quality aviation training and protecting the long-term strength of Falcon Field.”