Pilots at Falcon Field Airport in northeast Mesa will start seeing higher charges such as for hangar rentals and ground leases and for the first time will pay a landing fee at the former WWII training site.
Council last week unanimously voted for the fees to keep the airport financially self-sufficient and catch up with deferred maintenance.
All the fees take effect May 1 except the landing levies, which could be delayed for up to 90 days until the city contracts with a third party to track the landings.
Aviators said the landing fees will drive away pilots and hurt the airport’s economic output – which the city pegs at $811 million annually…