FAA Flight Path Updates

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contacted the City of Phoenix Aviation Department to participate in a working group relating to studying potential changes to some arrival and departure flight paths serving Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The first meeting was held on May 3-5, 2022. The City of Scottsdale was not invited to participate, despite a formal request to be included.

According to the FAA, this work group will reconvene in October, to continue the process and discuss proposed procedure designs to increase safety and efficiency within the PHX control airspace.

Scottsdale officials are continuing to request inclusion in the FAA's working group.

On June 24, 2022 the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the City of Scottsdale's legal brief. The City Attorney's Office is continuing their efforts to pursue a better outcome.

Two resources for updates and information:

In September 2014, the FAA implemented new routes at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport as part of its Next Gen, performance-based navigation initiative. The City of Phoenix and the historic neighborhoods filed a lawsuit. The FAA and the City of Phoenix entered into a settlement on the litigation about the flight path changes at Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Scottsdale Airport began receiving increased complaints from residents about increased overflights and noise related to these changes. Aviation staff responded by evaluating data and meeting with FAA representatives several times to determine impacts.

These changes appear to have impacted Scottsdale by:

• creating tighter flight path corridors for Phoenix Sky Harbor commercial air traffic resulting in increased overflights in some areas and reducing them in other areas, and
• shifting Scottsdale Airport air traffic to the outer cusps of our existing flights paths in northern Scottsdale to de-conflict with other air traffic.

Scottsdale Mayor and City Council members as well as aviation staff are fully engaged: sharing residents’ concerns with FAA, keeping the best interests of our community at hand and working with the FAA. The Mayor and Council Office are actively working with Congressional constituents. For more specifics, review the timeline.

In the meantime, residents can report noise complaints via the Noise Complaint Hotline at 480-312-3597 or online. Aviation staff promptly responds to these complaints when a callback is requested.

On April 26, 2021, the City of Scottsdale filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. When the FAA formed a Core Working Group, the City Manager sent a formal request to participate in the Phoenix Airspace Work Group. The city received this response from the FAA letter to Scottsdale.