If you want to know what’s happening at the Scottsdale Airport, as well as what’s going to happen, check out the Airport Advisory Commission.
This volunteer board is one of the best-kept secrets in the city of Scottsdale; while some meetings draw attention, most are sparsely attended — and hardly as newsworthy as the often-volatile City Council or even the Planning Commission and Development Review Board.
According to its website description, “The Airport Advisory Commission advises the City Council on policy matters relating to the operation of the airport, proposals for development, airport area land use, fees and safety concerns.”
The commission meets once per month — and meeting agendas are often packed with nuggets for aviation nerds and neighboring businesses and residents as well as visitors to the Airpark area.
The seven volunteer commissioners: Michael Goode, April Beauboeuf, Tom Kube, Peter Mier, Peter Lenton, John Spalj and David Mecartney.
The 5 p.m., Oct. 22, meeting has a robust schedule.
The agenda includes Airport Aeronautical Business Permit request from Avento Aviation Detailing, for mobile aircraft washing services; Daxair Aviation, for flight training services and Jet Avenue, Inc, for mobile aircraft maintenance and repair services.
The highlight of the October meeting: Representatives Erickson will ask for the commission’s blessing of a plan for Erickson filed a request for approval of a zoning district map amendment “to allow for a new minimal residential health care facility (975 units) and specialized (250 beds) residential care facility, on a 55-acre site located at the northwest corner of the Miller Road alignment and Princess Boulevard.”
The “alignment” alludes to an extension of Miller Road that the city and/or developers will build.
According to its application submitted to the city last year, “Erickson provides modern ‘age in place’ facilities and services, which includes a number of restaurants, fitness facilities, professional medical services, personal services (such as hair salons and light convenience retail) and continuing education.”
Though the planned senior facility is around 3 miles from the Scottsdale Airport, it is close enough to require it to start its journey at the Airport Advisory Commission — as planned developments by Taser-maker Axon and Banner Health did before it.
On Sept. 17, Banner Health took its plan for 31 acres — directly across Hayden Road from Axon’s 74 acres of former state land — to the Airport Advisory Commission. Former Councilman — and current flight instructor — Bob Littlefield preached to the commissioners that a Banner hospital with a helicopter taking off and landing could be hazardous to Scottsdale Airport traffic.
Commissioners worried Banner’s plan was too tall, too close to the airport — and, as they had in early 2024, when Axon pitched its apartments-hotel-office plan — a potential threat to the airport’s future, by causing too many noise complaints.
While the Airport Advisory Commission refused to recommend Banner and the initial Axon plan (a revised Axon plan was later given the thumbs-up), Erickson hopes its fate will be better.
Also at the Sept. 17 meeting, Scottsdale Aviation Director Rick Wielebski — who was promoted from assistant director in June, after longtime director Gary Mascaro’s retirement — welcomed the freshly-appointed (by City Council) Mecartney. And, the director noted, Barret Jackson’s fall event “should increase traffic at the airport.”
The 2025 Barrett-Jackson Fall Auction Oct. 15-18 at nearby WestWorld features collector cars — including a track-focused 2021 Ford GT Mk II and a custom 1963 Corvette. (For more information, visit barrett-jackson.com/scottsdale-fall-2025.)
At the September meeting, commissioners granted airport business permits to Execucare Detail Service, Velocity Maintenance Solutions and MN Designs (for hangar/shade leasing).
Airport staff and the commissioners have been busy with airport business permit requests; at the August meeting, Wielebski noted that staff received around 10 applications for ABPs, which he described as “an unusual spike for the offseason.”
In August, Jet OUT was given clearance for aircraft charter services at Scottsdale Airport. Matt Wild, the company’s chief operating officers, said Jet OUT already has 12 employees based in the Scottsdale area.
And Silver State Jet Services received permission to set up a maintenance/repair shop here. Cary Caraway, president of the Las Vegas-based company, told commissioners many of his customers who frequent Scottsdale Airport requested that a base be established here.
Glendale-based Star Gate Aviation also received permission to do maintenance/repairs here – though no employees will be based in Scottsdale, as the company performs mobile aircraft maintenance.
Those who attended the August meeting, or watched it online, also were educated by a presentation by Kelli Kuester, the city’s Aviation Planning and Outreach coordinator. She noted 40 people attended the pilot — meaning first-time, as opposed to the captain of a plane — forum, featuring information on the airport’s noise abatement program.
Speaking of jet sounds, Kuester presented the commission with noise complaint statistics over the summer (many of the July calls, she underscored, were related to “a large military plane which flew into the airport in the beginning of July”).
Many of the recent complaints came during the “voluntary curfew hours” of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Asked about this by the commissioners, Kuester said the majority of those violations were made by flight schools — but, since the curfew is “voluntary,” staff cannot prohibit anyone from flying during those hours.
Wielebski and his staff continue to make huge strides in quieting the concerns of Scottsdale Airport neighbors. In the second quarter of this year, the airport took 65 complaints — down from 89 for the same period in 2024.
Through the first half of the year, there have been 200 airport complaints; that’s on pace to be a significant reduction, compared to the 691 complaints in 2024.
And last year’s complaint total almost cut the 1,248 complaints in 2023 in half.
Over the last decade, the high-water mark was 2017, when airport staff fielded 7,211 complaints. ν