Overview
- The Mesa City Council’s unanimous vote Monday authorizes per-landing charges at Falcon Field starting May 1.
- Most based light planes will pay about $20 per landing, with higher rates for visiting and heavier aircraft.
- The city expects about $2.6 million a year from the fees to replace dwindling land-sale funds and avoid using the general fund.
- Based aircraft get 10 free landings each month and some flights are exempt, including emergency, government, certain testing, and rescue operations.
- Flight schools and FAA safety staff warn the charges hit training flights that make repeated touch-and-go landings, raising student costs and pushing traffic to untowered airports.