Peaceful Gila Skies
Stop Expansion of Military Pilot Training Above the Gila Wilderness
Air Force Proposes to Create Low-Level Supersonic Airspace Across Southeast Arizona/Southwest New Mexico
The FAA closed its public comment period on the Air Force’s proposed military airspace expansion on September 19, 2025. The proposal would authorize thousands of additional low-elevation fighter jet maneuvers, supersonic flights as low as 5,000 feet, subsonic flights to 100 feet, and the dropping of flammable flares over southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico, including the Gila Wilderness and tribal lands.
As of summer 2026, we are still waiting on the Air Force to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. Check back here for updates, or sign up for our mailing list below to be notified as soon as we know more.
Pilots and aviation professionals: If you would like more information about the aviation impacts, please contact us at peacefulgilaskies@gmail.com.
The U.S. Air Force wants to modify 10 existing Military Operations Areas (MOAs) that stretch across southern Arizona into southwest New Mexico as part of a plan for expansion of Special Use Airspace in the southwest region of the country. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) plan will authorize low-level fighter jet maneuvers and supersonic flights that cause sonic booms above rural and tribal communities, some of the Southwest’s most fragile sky-island ecosystems, and beloved wilderness areas and national monuments.
