File a Complaint
It is critical for us to voice our concerns and objections about the negative impact of the Cottonwood Airport. If we don't speak up, nothing will ever change, and the flight schools and hobbyists will continue to circle over our homes, parks, rivers, and nature areas with impunity, completely ignoring the impact their actions have on our lives. If we don't continually file complaints, it will let the airport manager report that no complaints were received and that "everything is fine."
Filing a complaint is actually pretty straightfoward. It may seem awkward at first, but after doing it once or twice, it will seem easy and you can use the same format for each one that you file. Don't be discouraged if you feel like you're saying the same thing in every complaint. It's important for your complaint to be submitted and logged.
Below, we've provided some basic guidance about how to do it and what you can say. There is information about filing a complaint with the City of Cottonwood and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Cottonwood Noise Complaint
What Should I Say in My Complaint?
When you write your complaint, we encourage you to take a polite and respectful tone, though we know it's not always so easy. But when public officials perceive members of the public as uncooperative and difficult, they often dismiss our concerns.
The City of Cottonwood Airport page describes the complaint process. Please make sure you submit the following information with each complaint or it will not be accepted:
First and last name.
Physical address.
Your contact email or phone number.
Date and time of occurrence. Provide details about when the disturbances happened. If you want to say who was flying (e.g. Embry-Riddle pilots) you can collect information from a flight tracking app.
Description of your concerns. Try to be concrete and specific. Is the constant noise making it hard to enjoy your property, do your job, or sleep? Is it causing you medical issues?
Cottonwood Airport also has Voluntary Noise Abatement Policies that are routinely disregarded. You can reference these when you observe the guidelines not being followed. For example, pilots are asked to
Avoid repetitive flight training operations between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am weekdays and 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm weekends and holidays.
Conduct full-stop taxi backs (rather than touch & go’s) before 8 am Monday to Friday and before 9 am Saturday and Sunday; and
Have no more than four (3) aircraft conducting repetitive flight training operations in the traffic pattern at any time.
Reporting Current Flight Concerns - effective July 2026
If you are concerned about flight-training activity at Cottonwood Airport, include the date, time, aircraft identification if known, and a brief description of what you observed. If an aircraft appears to be operating inconsistently with Cottonwood’s current Pilot Guide or the published 800-foot AGL traffic pattern altitude in the FAA Chart Supplement, include that information in your complaint along with any flight-tracking screenshot you may have. FAA training guidance also generally calls for the crosswind turn to begin at approximately 300 feet below traffic pattern altitude.
The above guidance applies to any flight-training activity at Cottonwood Airport. However in 2025 ERAU made specific public commitments concerning its operations at Cottonwood. Those commitments remain an important part of the history of this issue and may still be relevant when documenting current concerns.
Background: ERAU’s 2025 Commitments to Clarkdale
History of what occurred in 2025
In 2025, ERAU provided Clarkdale with written flight-training commitments intended to reduce impacts on surrounding communities. These included limits on training hours, pattern activity, and guidance regarding traffic-pattern operations. VVAIR is preserving those commitments here as part of the public record. Based on continued flight tracking and resident reports, there are ongoing questions about whether all of those commitments are being consistently followed.
Another way to make your complaint is to use the agreement that Embry-Riddle (ERAU) made in public to the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors on April 2, 2025 to gain support for its tax-exempt bond revision. The agreement was shared with the Town of Clarkdale as well. You can read the key elements in that agreement to the right or download it here. ERAU routinely breaks this agreement.
ERAU promised to (1) ask pilots to begin their first turn into the traffic pattern at 700 ft AGL; (2) follow noise abatement guidelines; (3) have no operations before 7 am or after 7 pm.
We suggest using the subject line, "ERAU not following its agreement" or "Embry-Riddle ignoring agreement presented to Board of Supervisors" In your message body, reference the agreement. Politely express your concerns if you feel they are not upholding the spirit or terms of that agreement.
Where Should I Send My Cottonwood Complaint?
Email your complaint to: airport.noise@cottonwoodaz.gov and Cottonwood Airport Manager Rodney Propst at rpropst@cottonwoodaz.gov
You can also file a complaint by calling the airport directly: 928-340-2722
We also recommend copying appropriate elected officials and, when the complaint involves ERAU, the relevant ERAU contacts.
Here is a quick cut and paste for these email addresses. City of Cottonwood
Mayor Ann Shaw — ashaw@cottonwoodaz.gov
Town of Clarkdale
Mayor Robyn Prud’homme-Bauer — robyn.prudhomme-bauer@clarkdale.az.gov
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Prescott Chancellor’s Office — prchnclr@erau.edu
COO Rodney Cruise — cruiser@erau.edu
Yavapai County
District 3 Supervisor’s Office — district3@yavapaiaz.gov
FAA Scottsdale Flight Standards District Office
7-AWP-sdl-FSDO@faa.gov
FAA Noise Complaint
You can also file a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Click here to file a complaint with the FAA.
Here's some of the basic info you'll need:
Cottonwood Municipal Airport
The most common types of planes are Cessna 172 or you can use the generic single engine prop plane.
