Frequently Asked Questions

Fly Safe Napa Valley is a grassroots volunteer group of residents, pilots, and businesses united to protect this unique valley from the transformational harm caused by loud, polluting jets. Members come from all neighborhoods in the city of Napa and some from up-valley. Our steering committee is composed of residents from Old Sonoma Road/Food City, Big Ranch Road, Napa Yacht Club, Alta Heights, and Terrace/Shurtleff.

We welcome members from all of our community and all walks of life, because everyone is affected — some by the deafening jet engines and the health impacts of invisible toxic emissions and greenhouse gases; some by declines in education or a drop in property values; others by the threat to their livelihoods as vineyards, wine quality, and the valley's reputation for relaxed, luxury tourism are compromised.

We're not anti-airport. We're pro-solutions. Safer alternative approaches exist — some have been used for over 50 years without incident — that protect residents, schools, vineyards, and the airport's future. Our goal is to restore peace and quiet to our beautiful valley and to protect the health of residents, visitors, and the environment for generations to come.

Yes. Historical approaches were used safely for over 50 years, dispersing landings from several directions over sparsely populated areas. The new NextGen/GPS approach funnels all traffic over established neighborhoods and schools. These are families who did not buy their homes under a flight corridor. The NextGen/GPS approach makes sense in inclement weather, but Napa Valley has excellent flying conditions most of the year — a worst-case approach should not be the default.

In accepting over $20 million in FAA grants, the county agreed to remain open 24/7/365 and cannot limit aircraft types (except through physical limitations like runway length). This is useful for emergency and law enforcement aircraft, but private jets also frequently fly during early morning hours.

The minimum height over homes is just 1,000 feet. The noise standard uses the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL), a formula from the 1970s that would allow several 747s per day to fly 1,000 feet over Napa Valley homes in the middle of the night without restriction. The DNL averages noise over 24 hours, so constant daytime disruption gets diluted into an acceptable-looking number. Over 100 communities nationwide have organized to challenge this outdated standard.

Yes. Studies by institutions including Cornell University link chronic aircraft noise exposure in children to reading deficits, impaired speech perception, lower test scores, and elevated blood pressure. Eight Napa schools are directly under or near the flight path. The World Health Organization recommends schools not be located near airports.

The county has spent $50 million across 21 construction projects — and growing — including new runways, taxiways, and terminal buildings. JSX began scheduled passenger service. Both Santa Rosa and Orange County airports grew from small WWII auxiliary airfields — similar to Napa — into major commercial airports. Orange County now handles over 11 million passengers per year with 130 commercial flights daily. In 2012, Measure S raised the aircraft weight limit from 50,000 to 99,000 lbs. County officials assured voters there would be no change in airport class. That assurance is worth revisiting.

Very little, as far as anyone can determine. The FAA did not conduct a meaningful environmental review before implementing the NextGen/GPS approach. The last full environmental impact review of the airport was in 1999. The county has used 21 separate "Negative Declarations" to avoid comprehensive review.

Congress has given the FAA extremely wide latitude in complying with environmental regulations. Even when the FAA conducts reviews, it uses an outdated noise metric system from the 1970s that heavily favors the aviation industry. This has led to over 100 communities nationwide organizing through the Aviation Impacted Communities Alliance.

In 2024, the aviation industry spent $137 million lobbying government officials, including the FAA. Why? The FAA is a $22 billion federal agency that doles out billions — over $9 billion in 2024 — in airport improvement grants (AIP) that pay for construction contractors, building materials, instrumentation, and repairs benefiting airport users, suppliers, and contractors. This is not simply a money-go-round. It is a financial ecosystem where the regulator is also the funder of the industry it oversees — one that guarantees relentless airport expansion throughout the U.S.

The influence extends to Congress, which has freed the FAA from normal environmental safeguards and allowed it to create its own “standards” that are heavily weighted in favor of the aviation industry — including lax regulation of private jets, which are well known to be the most heavily polluting form of transportation on the planet. That is why a jet as large as a 747 would be permitted to fly just 1,000 feet over Napa Valley homes. Communities affected by flight noise are up against one of the best-funded lobbying operations in Washington. Write Congressman Mike Thompson and urge him to join the congressional Quiet Skies Caucus, which is working to bring tolerable living conditions to airport-impacted communities.

Napa County Airport is classified as a general aviation airport (C-II) that does not permit commercial airlines. JSX operates under a charter license to avoid the safety and regulatory requirements that commercial airlines must adhere to — including security screening, pilot training standards, and consumer protections. The Board of Supervisors approved JSX on the basis that it would reduce overall private jet traffic by replacing approximately 5 private jets per JSX landing. Whether that trade-off has materialized is an open question.

Current data does not support this assumption. While private jet traffic has increased, the median tasting room order dropped from $349 in 2022 to $266 in 2024 — a 24% decline. According to the airport manager, many private jet users are simply flying to their vacation homes in Napa Valley, not visiting wineries. The wine industry, Napa's economic backbone, may actually be harmed by the noise and disruption that increased air traffic brings to the tasting experience.

Yes — sadly, the jet impact affects families financially too. Longtime residents in peaceful neighborhoods have recently been strongly advised by real estate agents to include language such as the following in sales disclosures to buyers. This is an excerpt from a recent Napa Valley sale: “... buyer is advised that other property owners in these areas have experienced noise, vibration, fuel residue on outdoor items, traffic and congestion, and other effects relating to airport operations... Buyer is also advised to investigate the projects described in the respective airport’s master plan available on each Commission’s website.”