The Issue
A bad-weather route
imposed for every day
In 2024, an untested landing approach was imposed over Napa Valley's most populated neighborhoods — without warning, public input, or meaningful environmental review. Jets now roar as low as 1,000 feet above homes, schools, and residential care homes, sometimes well past midnight, emitting an estimated 400 lbs of emissions on those below. Complaints surged 4,000% after the change, yet the route remains.
“The idea behind this was if the planes are above Soscol, the existing traffic, the noise reverberations would be kind of consumed. We now know this was not the case.”
— Supervisor Belia Ramos
Who objects — and why
The opposition isn't one group. Residents, pilots, growers, teachers, businesses, and conservationists have reached the same conclusion for different reasons.
The route imposes massive disruption to health and quality of life.
The new approach is roughly 60 miles longer, burning more fuel and time.
Harmful emissions put workers, grapes, and wine quality at risk.
Jet disruption is shown to diminish learning and harm the health of growing children.
The jets upset the pristine beauty and relaxed, luxury setting that draws visitors to Napa Valley.
Deafening noise and emissions harm activities, protected open spaces, and wildlife — and endanger restricted-access mountain terrain that burned in 2017 and again in 2020.
Imposed without warning
In September 2024, the FAA unilaterally imposed a new NextGen/GPS instrument approach to Napa County Airport, replacing long-established routes over sparsely populated areas that had been used safely for over 50 years. No one was asked. No one was notified. The new system uses GPS to concentrate aircraft along a single flight path. Instead of dispersing landings from several directions, it funnels most approaches into a single low corridor directly over the most populated areas of Napa Valley.
These are families who did not buy their homes under a flight corridor. In effect, the runway was moved to within 5–12 miles of their homes.
The new path sends aircraft in a 60-mile loop to Sonoma Raceway, up Sonoma Valley, east over the Mayacamas range, across St. Helena to Pritchard Hill, then descends south the length of the valley over Yountville, Big Ranch Road, Alta Heights, and Terrace/Shurtleff to runway 19R. Some pilots take visual shortcuts over Old Sonoma Road, Browns Valley, and downtown Napa.
The instrument approach is designed for inclement weather safety. But it is applied year-round — even though Napa Valley has nearly idyllic flying conditions most of the year. A worst-case procedure has become the default, with no consideration of the communities below.
The impact on 40,000 residents
Schools directly under the path
- Vintage High School
- Alta Heights School
- Silverado Middle School
- Napa Valley College
Closely affected
- Blue Oak School
- Phillips Elementary
- McPherson School
- New Tech High School
“When you're out there for a 30-minute lesson and three planes fly overhead — half my lesson learning is gone.”
— Napa Valley teacher
Health & environmental harm
This is not a nuisance. It is a public health threat. An MIT study found that aviation emissions cause approximately 16,000 premature deaths globally per year. Jet exhaust contains numerous hazardous air pollutants, including known carcinogens such as benzene, formaldehyde, and 1,3-butadiene. These compounds are now being dumped daily over Napa Valley homes, schools, vineyards, and playgrounds at low altitude.
Children are especially vulnerable. Research has linked chronic aircraft noise exposure to reading deficits, impaired speech perception, and elevated blood pressure in school-age children — precisely the population now sitting in classrooms directly beneath the new flight path. The disruptive jets and pollution will affect people in Napa Valley for generations.
The emissions picture
Each private jet on the mandated route produces approximately 399 pounds of emissions per arrival. At an average of 33 jets per day, that adds up to roughly 5 million pounds of CO₂ per year— from a single runway approach at a single county airport.
This directly conflicts with Napa County's own Climate Action Plan, which calls for an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
The valley's terrain compounds the problem. Flanked by the 4,000-foot Mayacamas to the west and the 2,000-foot Vaca Range to the east, Napa Valley acts as a natural funnel. Residents describe jet engine noise reverberating off the mountainsides for up to 60 seconds per overflight.
Airport expansion without review
Approximately $50 million has been spent across 21 airport construction projects — and growing at Napa County Airport — including a new runway, taxiways, two terminal buildings, and expanded parking. To sidestep required EIRs and CEQAs, the county adopted “Negative Declarations” for each of the 21 phases — treating a massive, coordinated expansion as if it were 21 unrelated minor projects.
The last full environmental impact review of the airport was completed in 1999— over 25 years ago.
A Napa County Grand Jury investigation found closed-door meetings and a lack of transparencyin airport governance. The county's own official response acknowledged: “While the county has no evidence to support this claim, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to support the appearance and concerns about such potential impropriety.” In 2024, the County adopted yet another Negative Declaration for an updated Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan, despite the substantial changes in operations since 1999.
In the meantime, the airport has added a second Fixed-Base Operator, substantially increased private jet operations, introduced 30-seat JSX charter flights, and seen fuel sales rise 63%. The cumulative impact of these changes has never been evaluated in a single, comprehensive review. It is too important to be decided by a few officials behind closed doors.
Community participation: Napa County ranks last
A 2022 Napa County Grand Jury investigation found a disturbing pattern of closed-door meetings and a lack of transparency in airport governance. We are concerned this pattern continues, as decisions are being made that permanently affect the majority of Napa Valley residents — with no representatives of impacted neighborhoods allowed to participate.
In a study of 10 comparable airports in California, Napa County's noise working group ranks last for community participation, with zero seats given to locally impacted residents. It is also the only airport with both active expansion plans and a governance structure explicitly designed to promote aviation rather than represent affected residents.
This issue — which will dramatically and permanently affect the once-pristine Napa Valley — is too important to be decided by a few officials behind closed doors.
The money trap
Napa Valley has been “discovered” — like Jackson Hole and Aspen, where 80% of landings are private jets. It has emerged as the 4th highest locale for second homes of centi-millionaires. Miles flown by private jet users increased 53% from 2019 to 2023. The airport is expanding to serve this demand, and local residents are absorbing the cost.
FAA grants — over $20 million since 2018— come with strings attached. In exchange, the airport must stay open to aeronautical users and avoid restrictions that unjustly single out aircraft types— obligations that run up to 20 years, with some lasting as long as the airport operates. FBO lease agreements add similar constraints.
The result is a trap: federal dollars fund expansion, expansion generates obligations, and those obligations strip the community's ability to set reasonable limits on airport operations. Each grant makes it harder — not easier — for local leaders to act on residents' concerns. There are no mandatory curfews. Some flights occur at 2:00 AM.
Our Generation's Moment
This is our Ag Preserve moment
In 1968, Napa County voters approved the nation's first Agriculture Preserve, protecting America's most renowned wine region from massive development and a six-lane divided highway running the length of the valley. That decision defined the valley for generations. Until now.
Today, a new threat has arrived — one that the founders of the Ag Preserve could not have imagined. Residents describe it as a “super highway of jets” descending over the heart of the valley. The same spirit that protected this land from developers must now protect it from becoming a turning basin for deafening, polluting jets. This is our Ag Preserve moment.
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. The FAA just hasn't acted on them.