Casa Grande Airport Manager David Reffner presented proposed commercial operating standards to the City Council, marking a significant step in restoring the airport’s federal grant eligibility after a lengthy dispute over skydiving operations.
“In 2013 there was a complaint filed against the city and the airport for economic discrimination and exclusive rights at the airport which resulted in the airport losing grant eligibility for many years,” Reffner explained to the council. “We’ve battled it out for quite some years but we’ve reached resolution on that and we’re working on our first federal grant now.”
The dispute began when Phoenix Area Skydiving, which operated from Casa Grande Municipal Airport but used a drop zone outside city limits, requested to establish a parachute drop zone on airport property. The city denied this request, citing safety concerns. The skydiving company then filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), alleging economic discrimination. The FAA ultimately ruled in favor of the skydiving company, determining that the city’s practices violated federal grant assurances, which led to a suspension of the airport’s grant eligibility.
The proposed standards aim to ensure the airport remains compliant with federal requirements by making the facility “available for public use on a fair and reasonable scale and will not unjustly discriminate against any kind or class of aeronautical activity,” according to Reffner.
The proposed standards establish baseline entry requirements for commercial operators, covering everything from insurance requirements to federal certificates necessary for activities such as aircraft maintenance and flight instruction. While initially developed for skydiving operations in 2021, airport management expanded the scope to cover all commercial activities to ensure equal treatment across the board.
The proposed guidelines include a public input process requiring 60-day comment periods for any future amendments, with notifications posted on the city’s website, in the airport terminal, and sent directly to commercial operators.
During council questioning, Mayor Pro-Tem Matthew Herman expressed optimism about the airport’s economic future as grant eligibility is being restored.
According to Reffner, the matter will be discussed again at the council’s first meeting in January. The airport advisory board has already reviewed and recommended approval of the document, which aligns Casa Grande with surrounding airports including Chandler, Marana, Eloy, and Coolidge that have similar measures in place.
