SANTA MONICA, CA — Propeller-aircraft traffic at Santa Monica Airport remained sharply elevated this spring as aircraft-related reports from nearby residents surged and a neighborhood campaign pressed officials for relief from repeated flight-training activity.
The airport recorded 8,209 piston-propeller operations in April, up 40 percent from 5,856 in April 2025, according to the latest monthly report currently posted by the city. Piston-propeller aircraft accounted for about 89 percent of all airport operations that month.
Residents also filed 116 aircraft-related reports from 41 households in April, compared with nine reports during April 2025, according to airport records. Reports included concerns about loud aircraft, low flying and frequent traffic-pattern operations. The figures come as residents in Venice and East Venice continue to organize against what they describe as increasingly disruptive flight-school traffic from the airport.
A petition organized by the Venice Skies neighborhood campaign has collected more than 1,300 verified signatures calling for a reduction in small propeller aircraft repeatedly flying over surrounding neighborhoods. The petition was launched in August 2025.
The group says expanded flight training at Santa Monica Airport has resulted in aircraft repeatedly circling residential areas, sometimes every few minutes. The latest numbers are part of a longer-term increase in propeller traffic at the airport.
Santa Monica recorded 74,498 propeller-aircraft operations in 2025, up 53 percent from 48,607 in 2024, according to the city's annual report. Overall airport operations rose 39 percent during the same period. An aircraft operation is counted each time a plane takes off or lands.
Sling Pilot Academy opened a Santa Monica Airport location in April 2025 as part of its Southern California flight-training network. The company said when the location opened that it would operate its "Whisper Sling" aircraft, which Sling promotes as producing less noise than conventional training aircraft.
Venice Skies also alleges that construction at Van Nuys Airport has pushed additional flight-school activity to Santa Monica. Van Nuys has undergone a major taxiway reconstruction project involving numerous runway closures and restrictions, but Patch has not independently confirmed that the work caused training flights to shift to Santa Monica.
The campaign has also raised concerns about pilots deviating from Santa Monica Airport's recommended flight paths. The airport's "Fly Neighborly" procedures encourage pilots to follow particular routes intended to reduce impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. Those flight-path procedures are recommended rather than mandatory, and pilots may need to deviate because of weather, other aircraft or instructions from air traffic control.
Santa Monica separately imposes mandatory restrictions on some training operations. Touch-and-go, stop-and-go and low-approach operations are prohibited on weekends and holidays and on weekdays from one-half hour after sunset until 7 a.m. the following morning.
Patch contacted Venice Skies organizer Brigid McBride, Sling Pilot Academy and Santa Monica Airport officials Friday seeking comment about the increased aircraft activity and residents' concerns. No responses had been received as of publication time.
The dispute continues to unfold during the final years of Santa Monica Airport's operation. Under a 2017 agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration, Santa Monica must continue operating the airport through Dec. 31, 2028, after which the city has the right to close it.
The city has said it intends to permanently close the airport after its obligations under the agreement expire.
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