Clay Lacy Aviation receives Fly Friendly and inaugural Green Tenant awards at Van Nuys Airport

Clay Lacy Aviation has received two honours at Van Nuys Airport (VNY): the Fly Friendly Award for noise abatement compliance and the inaugural Green Tenant Award for environmental leadership. Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) presented both awards on 23 September 2026 during a recognition breakfast and ceremony at Van Nuys City Hall.

The Fly Friendly Award recognises jet operators demonstrating exceptional compliance with voluntary aircraft noise abatement procedures at VNY, going beyond mandatory requirements to reduce noise impacts on surrounding communities. Criteria include increasing southbound jet departures, avoiding overnight flights, and achieving 99% or greater compliance with the No Early Turn and Quiet Jet Departure programmes. The newly established Green Tenant Program recognises VNY tenants demonstrating environmental leadership and sustainable best practices, and Clay Lacy Aviation was cited specifically for its advancements in zero-emission ground support equipment.

Jacob Haik, airport manager at Van Nuys Airport, said: "Clay Lacy continues to set a benchmark for what it means to be an exceptional neighbour and partner at Van Nuys Airport. Earning the Fly Friendly Award reflects their ongoing diligence in adhering to our mandatory and voluntary noise abatement procedures, while their recognition as an inaugural Green Tenant Awardee demonstrates real leadership in sustainable aviation." Scott Cutshall, president of real estate and sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation, said the recognitions reflect the team's intentional work to reduce noise, lower emissions and implement sustainability strategies across operations and facilities. Across its wider network, the company's sustainability practices include electric ground equipment, renewable electricity sourcing, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, recycling programmes and the availability of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Its facilities have held carbon-neutral certification since 2019.

Airport-led recognition schemes like Fly Friendly and the new Green Tenant Program give operators at busy general-aviation fields a formal incentive structure to exceed mandatory noise and emissions rules rather than simply meeting them. At a field like VNY, where jet traffic sits close to residential communities, voluntary compliance thresholds such as the 99% figure cited here become a practical measure of how seriously a tenant manages its community footprint.

The Green Tenant Program's first year also signals that LAWA is extending its scrutiny from noise alone into broader environmental performance, covering ground support equipment, energy sourcing and fuel choices. Whether other VNY tenants pursue similar zero-emission ground equipment investments, and whether LAWA expands the Green Tenant criteria in future cycles, will indicate how far this kind of recognition shapes tenant behaviour beyond the award itself.