Dear supporters,

We want to share an important piece of context that many people don’t know: Leopard Aviation, one of the flight schools contributing to heavy training traffic over Mesa, was previously based at Scottsdale Airport, and left after local complaints over noise and quality-of-life impacts.

Scottsdale residents were vocal and organized in pushing back against the constant noise and disruption caused by frequent touch-and-go operations. Community action led to increasing pressure, and ultimately, Leopard moved its operations to Falcon Field in Mesa.

Now, we’re living with the consequences. Falcon Field is seeing a sharp rise in training volume, with thousands of repetitive circuits by student pilots, many of them from out-of-state, flying low and often directly over homes, parks, and schools. These operations bring not only persistent noise but also toxic lead pollution from aviation fuel, which still contains lead, a known neurotoxin.

While the City of Mesa does not directly profit from every flight, it does sell leaded fuel to flight schools like Leopard and CAE, which creates a financial incentive to maintain or grow this training activity. And unlike Scottsdale, Mesa has yet to take meaningful action to protect residents from the cumulative impacts.

We believe Mesa deserves the same level of respect and responsiveness that Scottsdale demanded, and got.

What you can do:

Contact the media: help shine a light
Tell local news outlets that Mesa residents are being exposed to lead pollution and nonstop aircraft noise, and ask them to cover the story:

ABC15 Arizona: investigate@abc15.com

12News (NBC): connect@12news.com

Arizona Republic / azcentral: azcentral.com/help or tag them on social media

East Valley Tribune: email tips@evtrib.com

Report all aircraft noise to the FAA at https://noise.faa.gov/ and to the City of Mesa’s noise portal at https://www.mesaaz.gov/residents/falcon-field-airport/noise-abatement Every report matters.

Email Councilmember Alicia Goforth at district5@mesaaz.gov and let her know Mesa residents expect meaningful action to reduce noise and lead exposure from Falcon Field flight schools.

Share this petition with neighbors, local leaders, and anyone who cares about clean air, quiet neighborhoods, and public health.
We’re not against flight training. But it must be done responsibly, and with respect for the communities below.

Your voice matters. The more people who report and speak out, the harder it is for the city to ignore. We deserve clean air, quiet skies, and a government that puts residents first, not flight school profits.

Thank you for standing with us.