AOPA Concerned About New Proposed Falcon Field Landing Fees
Under the proposal, aircraft owners would pay $4.14 per 1,000 pounds of their aircraft’s maximum landing weight (MLW)—or $10.35 per landing for an aircraft with a 2,500-pound MLW, roughly the weight of a Cessna 172 or Piper Archer.
The proposed fees would replace a landing fee structure the Mesa City Council approved in March, which has been on hold and is currently scheduled to go into effect in late October. Under that structure, based aircraft weighing 6,000 pounds or less would pay $20.35 per landing after their first 10 landings each month, and transient aircraft of the same size would pay $24.35 per landing. The new structure does not differentiate between based and transient aircraft and does not provide any free landings for based aircraft.
The FAA has received at least four Part 13 complaints and an investigation is underway. One of those complaints was filed by two flight schools at Falcon Field; they also filed a federal lawsuit against the city.
AOPA also sent a letter to the FAA on May 28 in support of the complaint filed by the flight schools, asking for an immediate stay of the fees until the city conducted a thorough review and publicly provided justification for the fees.
In August, AOPA reiterated these concerns in a joint letter with the Arizona Pilots Association (APA) and the Aviation Safety Advisory Group of Arizona (ASAG) and said that the city has not provided sufficient financial justification for the fees, that the landing fees appear “to be an attempt to regulate flight training rather than to address airport deficits,” and that the city’s meetings on the topic do not satisfy federal requirements.
AOPA, APA, and ASAG asked that the FAA find the city of Mesa in violation of its federal grant obligations, that the FAA ask the city for federally required financial documentation, and that if the city does not rescind the fees that the FAA initiate a formal Part 16 enforcement action.
“We appreciate the city of Mesa recognizing that the original fee structure would not work and going back to the drawing board. However, its new proposal does not address the concerns we previously raised and makes things worse by eliminating the exemption for based aircraft. The city also has yet to publish the claimed ‘detailed data’ that allegedly supports the fees,” said AOPA General Counsel Fernando Campoamor.
“By leaning entirely on landing fees rather than recouping costs through other means, the city appears to still be attempting to limit operations and reduce noise,” added Campoamor. “As we pointed out to the FAA, there is evidence that the city was looking to fees for these reasons, and that is a direct violation of federal law. We will continue to work with local pilots and organizations, along with the FAA, to ensure the city abides by its federal obligations.”
The revised landing fee proposal, which the city says would “further ensure compliance with federal regulations,” is scheduled for consideration by the Mesa City Council on December 8.
