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In January 31, 2001, the FAA announced the commencement of an
Environmental Assessment (EA) study to review proposed changes to commercial aircraft
flight paths in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. On February 21, 2002, the FAA
implemented the Northwest 2000 (NW2000) airspace plan as per the Final EA document and
Record of Decision (ROD) released on December 19, 2001.
The City of Scottsdale submitted several comments to the FAA before,
during and after the EA process. A brief analysis of the NW2000 Plan implementation
effects and depictions of aircraft traffic before and after the NW2000 Plan implementation
are available below in PDF format. Until January 2003, the Final EA and ROD
documents may be viewed at the FAA contractor's website
(Landrum & Brown) 
in a format best suited to high-speed internet
connections due to the intensive graphics.
More information regarding the environmental process is available from the
FAA at the Western
Pacific Region Airspace Branch website.
Airspace Issues
Airspace in the valley is very complex due to the number of airports, the
large amount of Special Use Airspace reserved for use by the military, limited radar
coverage and impacts caused by the local terrain. The City of Scottsdale, more than
any other local community, has spent significant time and resources to understand and
analyze the airspace constraints and propose alternatives to the FAA. While, the FAA
has sole authority over airspace planning and operations, the City has committed to
staying involved in the ongoing community discussions regarding any future airspace
changes.
The valley's airspace is sufficiently complex that all airspace is
currently used by aircraft at some time. Additionally, changing one element of the
airspace has a "domino effect" on the entire airspace system, and a
"fix" in one area can easily result in a worsened conditions overall.
15000 N. Airport Drive, 2nd Floor, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 312-2321 (480) 312-8480 Fax
(Located
at Butherus Drive and North Airport Drive) see map