If you live within miles of the Scottsdale Airport, you may notice a change overhead.
Some neighborhoods may have fewer “flyovers” – while others might find far more frequent flights coming and going over their homes.
Though deciphering proposed changes is a challenge, thus far, a new federal proposal to redesign Phoenix-area flight paths could change the skies of Scottsdale.
According to a city press release, “The Federal Aviation Administration recently released a draft environmental assessment outlining a broad overhaul of airspace serving Sky Harbor and surrounding airports, part of a nationwide effort to modernize air traffic systems.”
Public comments are being accepted through June, with four virtual public workshops scheduled this month.
Following virtual presentations last week for Phoenix Sky Harbor and the West Valley, a Scottsdale/Deer Valley virtual meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19.
To participate, registration is required at faa.gov/air_traffic/community_engagement/phx (scroll to the “virtual workshops” section).
The Progress asked Scottsdale’s city manager and airport manager to provide an overview of the changes, including proposed flight path changes for the Scottsdale Airport.
“As this is the FAA’s project and an FAA initiative, I would point you to the FAA’s Community Engagement webpage,” Rick Wielebski, the city’s aviation director, responded.
Wielebski provided a link to the FAA’s community engagement page, which includes frequently asked questions, including, “Has the FAA made a final decision?”
The answer:
“No. The FAA has not finalized the proposed action or the contents of the environmental assessment. Public input and environmental analysis will inform any final decisions.”
According to the page Wielebski referenced, “The FAA is implementing these procedures at airports across the United States. In addition, the FAA is working with aviation stakeholders and has met with leaders from communities surrounding PHX.”
The Progress asked Wielebski and City Manager Greg Caton if they were part of these meetings and if they could provide a better explanation – as the proposed changes impacting the Scottsdale Airport are difficult to decipher.
Neither responded.
Background
“The FAA is proposing to implement new satellite-based air traffic procedures, as well as updates to the existing satellite-based air traffic procedures, that will help enhance safety and improve air traffic efficiency,” the project’s website explains.
Residents are being asked to weigh in on its Performance Based Navigation system, which will “use satellites to fly more direct routes with efficient climbs and descents.”
But as with another flight path revision that created controversy over a decade ago, the details of what neighborhoods will be affected – and how – are difficult to decipher.
The proposal affects 10 airports including Sky Harbor, Mesa Gateway, Chandler, Scottsdale and Deer Valley.
The lengthy FAA study issued last week notes that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May of last year on the National Environmental Policy Act frees the agency from some considerations about the impact of flight changes.
“It is no longer a legal requirement or the policy of the federal government to conduct environmental justice analyses,” the FAA states.
It adds that as a result of the Supreme Court decision, “it is no longer a legal requirement or the policy of the federal government to conduct cumulative impact analyses” or “consider environmental effects of other activities and projects separate in time or place from the proposed action.”
The draft environmental assessment outlines a transition to satellite-based navigation designed to make flights more efficient and predictable.
What it does not clearly show is which neighborhoods could see – and hear – more planes overhead.
It also addresses air emissions, stating the proposed action “would result in a small increase in emissions when compared to the No Action Alternative.
“However, most changes to flight paths under the Proposed Action would occur at or above 3,000 feet (above ground level), where aircraft emissions are considered unlikely to affect ground-level pollutant concentrations.”
A familiar pattern
For many Valley residents, the proposal echoes the FAA’s 2014 rollout of “NextGen” flight paths, which dramatically altered routes with little public warning and triggered widespread complaints, lawsuits and a federal court rebuke.
The City of Phoenix filed suit in 2015 over the NextGen impacts on historic neighborhoods, resulting in a 2017 federal Court of Appeals ruling in the city’s favor.
The court rebuked the FAA’s “arbitrary and capricious” violation of the law and ordered the agency to begin a new environmental impact study.
The new plan has no relation to that court case, the FAA notes.
However, the FAA says it “does not anticipate that this project will increase the number of aircraft operations at any of the study airports.
According to the draft report, “Aviation forecasts indicate that air travel demand may continue to grow over time, which is one of the reasons the FAA periodically evaluates and modernizes air traffic procedures.
“This project focuses on how aircraft safely and efficiently fly within the airspace, not on increasing the number of flights. The FAA’s role is to safely separate and manage air traffic using available airspace as efficiently as possible.”
But while the agency has scheduled public workshops and opened a comment period, the technical nature of the documents may leave many residents unaware of how the changes could affect them until after they are implemented.
At the heart of the proposal is a shift to Performance-Based Navigation, allowing aircraft to follow precise, satellite-guided routes instead of being directed in real time by air traffic controllers.
The FAA says the changes are needed to improve safety, reduce delays, increase efficiency, and better manage growing air traffic.
“The need is to enhance traffic flow, reduce delays, and improve safety and efficiency,” the report states, adding:
“Specifically, the arrival and departure procedures serving the Phoenix area can be improved to optimize use of the airspace and maintain safety while improving operational efficiency, predictability, and flexibility for the benefit of pilots, controllers, and the public.”
It adds, “Conventional procedures rely on technology that cannot provided specific and precise navigational benefits for aircraft, including predetermined speeds or altitudes.”
But that precision can carry a downside.
Instead of spreading flights over a wider area, modern routing often concentrates them into narrower corridors — meaning some neighborhoods may see significantly more consistent overflights.
“Based on the analysis of existing and proposed flight procedures, including routing, altitude, and operational variability, the FAA determined that the Proposed Action would not materially expand the overall geographic extent of aircraft operations but may change the distribution and concentration of aircraft within that existing operational environment,” the FAA document states.
Highly technical
While the FAA has released detailed maps, they are highly technical and do not clearly identify neighborhood-level impacts.
The study evaluates noise exposure across broad regions rather than showing simple “before and after” comparisons for specific communities.
In practical terms, that means residents may not know whether their neighborhood will see more flights, fewer flights or none at all without digging deeply into complex data.
-Executive Editor Paul Maryniak contributed to this report