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Mac McCall, A.A.E.
General Manager • Sedona Airport
Arizona Airports Association’s
“Executive of the
Year”
Major Story in Airport Business
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The Sedona Airport
From Coyote Country to Premier Resort
Destination
by Al Comello, president of the Sedona
Airport Supporters Association
When the Sedona Airport started in 1955.
it was basically a graded field on top of flat desert mountain
in the middle of Nowhere, Arizona. It was located on top of a
mountain five hundred feet above Sedona and was called Oak
Creek Airport. (Read story on
the history of the airport.)
Over the last 50 years the airport
has kept pace with Sedona’s evolution as a premier resort
destination by continually improving it’s runways,
taxi-ways, transient parking, hangar availability, fuel
services and overall attraction to drive-in and fly-in
visitors.
Nicknamed the U.S.S. Sedona (SEZ)
because of the mesa’s resemblance of an aircraft carrier,
the airport developed a reputation and an attraction. Few
airports in the U.S. are like Sedona Airport – a
pilot’s log book must have SEZ!
And the future is bright.
The next five years will usher in
even more changes, moving Sedona Airport forward into a special
class of airport – a safe, beautifully designed and
maintained, full service air “port” for the 21st
Century flying tourist. It will be the envy of resort
destination airports throughout the world.
What’s Planned:
• A rebuilt 100’ wide
hardened runway (Completed in 2005).
• Expanded tarmac to
accommodate 40 additional “tie downs”.
• A new terminal building
expansion with a top drawer restaurant on the second floor
overlooking the airport and the surrounding red rock
countryside.
• A new, connected business
environment for air tours, transient pilots, corporate
visitors, and airport visitors all in one modern, state of the
art airport terminal building.
• A Pilots Lounge for
corporate pilot “day layovers”
• A secure baggage area for
“airline” type service, when developed.
• An airport environment
secured to FAA 9/11 standards
• A fully functional gps
landing system
Sedona is assured its airport is
ready for flying visitors of any kind. The Sedona Airport will
play a big part in the growth of affluent and adventuresome
travel visitors who make Sedona the “home” while on
a fly-in vacation in Northern Arizona.
Part of the evolution of the Sedona
Airport is a change in attitudes towards concerns of land-bound
citizens over aircraft sound (noise to some, music to others).
Over the past few years, the airport’s administration has
addressed the issue of complaints about aircraft sound by
directly approaching the issue and investigating excessive
noise complaints.
The airport's manager, Mac McCall
visits the homes of those who have expressed concern to
determine if the airport can provide any assistance. It also
checks its own records of pilot visitors and aircraft
operations to see if it’s possible to talk to the pilot
who’s aircraft created this sound “issue”.
Many times the issue was caused by an individual who does not
reside in Sedona and chose to fly lower than recommended.
Sometimes helicopters from utility companies, search and
rescue, and military exercises are the offending party.
Sometimes, the airport can “educate” a pilot about
its “good neighbor” policy and the presence of
Wilderness Areas around Sedona and the 2,000 foot AGL height
request.
As an issue, most residents who have
logged a complaint have come to appreciate the difficulty in
determining who created the sound and have learned what causes
aircraft sound is not necessarily the size of the aircraft, but
the type engine or prop or the pilot’s flying techniques.
They have also been educated on the actual rights afforded to
pilots in America – noting that safety is always top of
mind, not sound.
The airport invites all area residents and
visitors to use the official “Noise Incident Form” to log a specific occurance of a sound
problem. The form can be downloaded here from
www.keepsedonabeautiful.org website and faxed to 928-282-3911.
The airport responds to all incident reports. (see next
article)
The airport administration
participates in a local “action” committee SNAC
– The Sedona Noise Abatement Committee. The group
includes the airport and representatives of the Forest Service,
Quiet Skies Alliance, Keep Sedona Beautiful, The Friends of the
Forest, and The Sedona Airport Supporters Association.
Representatives of the airport attend all meetings, listen to
issues discussed and educate the group on airport news,
development, and operations. This group is given the
opportunity to talk to the full board at regular airport
meetings to address noise issues. This new transparency of
operations and communications has made a major difference in
community attitudes towards the airport and has made the
airport’s management sensitive to community concerns.
The airport continues to be
proactive in addressing community concerns and attitudes.
For example, the airport’s high pattern altitude
(6,000’ for piston and 7,000’ for turbine) is 1,200
and 2,200’ above the runway and 1,700 to 2,700 feet above
most homes helps mitigate some sound concerns. Sightseeing
fly-overs are requested to be at 6,500’ or above which is
2,200’ above most homes and hikers. The airport’s
tourist overlook has been improved and has become one of
Sedona’s most popular attractions. These are examples of
efforts have greatly improved the airport’s reputation.
Looking ahead, airport management is
working to get the FAA to designate the area around Sedona as a
Class D Airspace and to authorize a contract control tower
operation. Issues of safety and improvement of airport
operations are noted in the applications to the FAA. There are
high hopes a contract tower operation will be in effect by the
middle of this decade.
Al Comello
Sedona Airport Administration’s
“Aircraft Noise Incident Form”
The Sedona Airport Administration
implemented an "Aircraft Noise Incident Form" which
was developed by the Sedona Citizen's Noise Abatement Committee
(SNAC), a community-consensus committee formed at the request
of the airport’s Board of Directors. According to Mac
McCall, A.A.E., the airport’s manager, the purpose of the
form is to obtain a better understanding of the frequency and
intensity of aircraft sound in the greater Sedona area.
“We have entered a new era of
cooperation and communications between the different interests
on airport related matters, especially sound issues,”
McCall said. “This will structure the various
observations involving aircraft sound over Sedona and adjacent
forests since all observations will be reported in the same
manner.”
The new noise incident survey form
is filled out by airport personnel when they receive a phone
call regarding any aviation related observation. The
caller is asked specific questions about the incident including
what the aircraft was doing, where the incident occurred, etc.
The person making the observation may also fill out the
survey and forward it to the Sedona Airport Administration.
The completed surveys received by
the Sedona Airport Manager are investigated and in some cases
action is taken. In addition, the incidents of sound complaints
will be compiled for later analysis.
McCall said these initiatives
reflect a commitment by the airport to find common ground and
mitigate conflicting issues between interested parties.
“Real progress is being made,” McCall added.
The Citizens' Noise Abatement
Committee was formed at the request of the Sedona Airport
Administration Board of Directors at a recent Airport Master
Plan Committee to bring together a representative group from a
broad cross-section of the community to address concerns about
aviation-related sound. The committee meets once a month at the
Keep Sedona Beautiful office on Brewer Road.
The form is called The Noise Incident Form
and is used on an ongoing basis.
Sedona Airport (SEZ), Sedona, Arizona
• 235 Air Terminal Drive, Suite 1 • Sedona, AZ 86336
Phone: (928) 282-4487 • Fax: (928)
204-1292
