2 flight schools suing Mesa over new Falcon Field Airport landing fees

The city of Mesa has been named in a federal lawsuit filed by two flight schools — CAE Aviation Academy and Thrust Flight Properties — challenging the implementation of landing fees at Falcon Field Airport. 

Small planes will pay roughly $20-$24 to land at Falcon Field while larger planes will pay a landing fee based on weight. The lawsuit seeks to stop the city from implementing and collecting the landing fees. 

“Thrust Flight and another flight school jointly filed both an FAA Part 13 complaint and a civil lawsuit because Mesa’s landing fee program creates serious safety, financial and fairness concerns for flight training at Falcon Field,” Patrick Arnzen, Thrust Flight CEO, former airline pilot and designated pilot examiner, said in an email.

Thrust Flight opened at Falcon Field in late summer/early fall of 2025 and has invested roughly $5.5 million in the operation so far, he said.

“We were encouraged to come to Falcon Field, and we would not have made that investment had we known this kind of fee structure was being considered,” Arnzen said.

“The most concerning issue is safety. Student pilots have to practice repeated landings to become proficient. By charging for each landing, including touch-and-go training, the city is placing a financial penalty on one of the most important parts of learning to fly. If that training is reduced at Falcon Field or pushed to other airports, it could add traffic to already busy regional airspace,” he said.

“The financial impact is also significant. Mesa’s own estimates show the fees could add approximately $5,000 to $10,000 to the cost of training for each student pilot. For Thrust Flight, the fees are expected to cost more than $500,000 in the first year alone, and that number would grow as our Falcon Field operation ramps up,” Arnzen said. “This is bigger than one airport. If other airports follow Mesa’s lead, flight training could become more expensive nationwide at a time when the industry already needs more pilots.”

The city believes the lawsuit lacks legal merit and does not justify delaying the landing fee program. Mesa will be represented by Anderson Kreiger, a national law firm with extensive experience in airport law, according to a release.

“The city will continue to defend the legality and necessity of the landing fees, which are intended to help cover the costs of operating, maintaining, and improving Falcon Field Airport and to support the airport’s long-term financial sustainability,” it states.

The city remains committed to ensuring the airport continues to operate in a fiscally responsible manner, it states.

The city will continue to work with its vendor to complete installation of the technology and infrastructure needed to implement the landing fee system. To allow time for these final improvements and for the city’s legal response to the lawsuit, the city plans to activate the landing fee collection system on July 30, 2026, and to begin collection of landing data for billing purposes on Aug. 1, 2026, it states in the release.

Falcon Field includes a total of 784 acres between Greenfield, Higley, McDowell and McKellips roads in northeast Mesa. There are currently more than 800 aircraft based at Falcon Field. This includes fixed-wing single- and multi-engine aircraft, turboprops, jets and helicopters, according to https://www.falconfieldairport.com

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