Welcome to the March 2026 edition of the APA Approach!
Thanks to everyone that stopped by the APA and RAF booth at the AOPA Buckeye Air Fair. It was great to be able to spend some time with our members and make some new friends. I wanted to pass on a special thank you to the RAF volunteers that helped man the booth over the weekend. It was especially encouraging to hear that many of our members support both APA and The RAF and our shared mission of supporting the general aviation community in Arizona and nationwide.
I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on the significant effort AOPA and the City of Buckeye put in to make sure that a complex event like this runs smoothly. From my perspective, the Buckeye event is an important opportunity to bring the Arizona and Western states GA community together to discuss the expanding set of issues we face and focus on the fundamentals of all thing’s aviation related. This is especially true with regard aviation safety, and I look forward to an expanded set of safety forums to include the FAA Safety Team at next year's event.
I’m sure that many of you have been following the developments related to the Falcon Field landing fee proposal. AOPA, APA and the Aviation Safety Advisory Group of Arizona (ASAG) have been collaborating on a response to the city providing some perspective and our recommendations as the GA community, including the tenants and users of Falcon Field. We have had a number of discussions with the city throughout this process and we have recommended that the city council vote for scheduled for March 23rd be cancelled until the following high-level actions related to collaboration and financial transparency have been completed:
- ·Establishing a Falcon Field Advisory Board
- ·Completing a Financial and Fee Structure Review
- ·Evaluating Alternate Revenue Sources
- ·Chartering an airport operations improvement group to develop realistic changes to the current Fly Friendly noise abatement program
You can find our letter and the full details of our recommendations here: https://azpilots.org/images/documents/2026_letters/falcon_field_fee_proposal_aopa_apa_asag.pdf. We understand that the city has also been reviewing the basis of current fee proposal and has consulted the FAA as well.
In spite of our group’s input and the collective input from the GA community, I’m confident that the city will proceed with the city council vote on March 23rd. AOPA, APA and ASAG will be represented at the meeting and I strongly encourage local pilots and Falcon Field tenants to attend this meeting as well. You can find the meeting agenda and details for public attendance and comment at https://www.mesaaz.gov/Government/City-Council-Meetings.
On a related subject, Arizona House Bill 2210 - which aims to prevent collecting fees from aircraft owners and operators using ADS-B - is making progress in the state legislature. HB.2210 passed in the House and has been introduced in the Senate. It is scheduled to be voted on in the Senate Appropriations/Transportation/Technology committee Tuesday, March 10th. APA and representatives from the pilot and aircraft owner community will be present to testify to ensure the committee understands the intent of the bill and the criticality of preserving the original safety and efficiency intent of ADS-B. Keep an eye on the APA Facebook page for updates from this week’s vote.
A few schedule updates to wrap up for this month:
March Grapevine Daytrip/Camping Weekend – March 20 – 22 – the March event will be a little different since we will combine a Day Trip and Camping Weekend and we are looking forward to a great event. Keep an eye out for updates on our Facebook page and if you have any questions, you can reach out to Leanne Tawoda (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Mike McCann (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
APA Annual Meeting – May 16 - Our annual membership meeting is scheduled for Saturday May 16, so please mark your calendars and save the date. The meeting will be held at Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, near KSDL. We have a full agenda lined up and we look forward to seeing you there!
Thank you for supporting APA’s mission through your membership and please feel free to reach out to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any comments, concerns or questions.
Fly Safe,
Chris