zReports Research Institute · Updated October 2026
California has 110 active licensed balloon ride operators on the state's public file. zReports analyzed NTSB federal aviation accident records (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory reporting) to produce a records layer grade for every one, the government's own verdicts, mapped through one fixed rule. No facility can pay to change a score, and the grade is free.
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Active licensed balloon ride operators | 110 |
| Cities covered | 49 |
| Statewide average records layer score | 85 |
| Grade A facilities | 110 (100%) |
| Facilities with a clean record (no deficiencies on file) | 110 (100%) |
| Serious (high severity) findings on the record | 0 |
| Moderate findings on the record | 0 |
#1 A To Z Event Magic X Balloon San Francisco · A-
#2 Adventures In The Sky Aviation Fresno · A-
#3 Aerodynamic Aviation Monterey · A-
#4 Aerozone Trampoline Park & Kids Town Fresno · A-
#5 Alcatraz Tours San Francisco · A-
#6 Balloon Decor South San Francisco · A-
#7 Balloon Excelsior Manteca · A-
#8 Balloon Pacific Napa · A-
#9 Balloon Race Buena Park · A-
#10 Balloon Safari Escondido · A-
#11 Balloon Stories San Diego · A-
#12 Balloons Above Indio · A-
#13 Balloons Above The Valley Napa · A-
#14 Balloons By Gary Fresno · A-
#15 Balloons By The Sea Morgan Hill · A-
#16 Balloons DéCor San Francisco · A-
#17 Balloons Everywhere Fresno · A-
#18 Balloons Unlimited - Call Ahead We Might Be Out On A Delivery Lodi · A-
#19 Big Bus Tours San Francisco San Francisco · A-
#20 Blow It Up Balloons Bakersfield · A-
#21 Blue Ocean Whale Watching Moss Landing · A-
#22 Boland Gary Davis · A-
#23 California Dreamin Hot Air Balloon Temecula · A-
#24 Carneros Ballooning Napa · A-
#25 Cielo Balloons Temecula Temecula · A-
Don't see a name? Search it. Every balloon ride operator has an answer.
The free grade on this page contains zero zReports judgment: it maps the state's own published licensing and enforcement verdicts through one fixed rule, applied identically to every balloon ride operator in America. Where the record and public reputation diverge, a highly reviewed facility with serious findings on file, the paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ surfaces it through the composite Consumer Z Score™ and our published ten point methodology. Facilities are never contacted and cannot pay to change a score. Read the full methodology →
Adventure aviation operators in California fall under federal oversight: the FAA and the NTSB under 49 CFR Part 830 mandatory accident reporting requires operators to report qualifying accidents, and those filings are mandatory, public, and permanent, the one surface no operator can reputation manage. This page is computed from that federal record.
California has 110 active licensed balloon ride operators on the state's public file, across 49 cities. Every one has a free records layer grade on zReports.
Temecula, with 16 licensed balloon ride operators, followed by Fresno (11) and Bakersfield (10).
The free records layer grade contains zero zReports judgment. It maps the government's own published verdicts, NTSB federal aviation accident records (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory reporting), through one fixed rule, applied identically to every balloon ride operator in the country. The paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ adds the composite Consumer Z Score™, which audits the record against public reputation through our published ten point methodology.
Reviews and records are different surfaces. Reviews reflect what visitors chose to write, and can be managed by the business. Inspection and enforcement records are filed by the state, are mandatory, and cannot be edited by the facility. When the two diverge, the record is the surface worth checking. That divergence is exactly what zReports was built to surface.
Rankings refresh whenever California republishes its licensing data; facility pages carry the records-verified date for each provider. This page was generated from the current file as of October 2026.
No. Facilities are never contacted, never notified, and cannot pay to be listed, delisted, or re-scored. zReports has no business relationship with any facility it grades, independence is the product.
This report was generated from the zReports Consumer Records Database™, a continuously updated database that normalizes official government licensing, inspection, enforcement, ownership, and safety records across multiple federal and state agencies. Every statistic in this report is traceable to its originating public record. Facilities cannot pay to alter scores, rankings, or findings.
Data source: zReports Consumer Intelligence Database™ v2026.10 · Built from: FAA operator records · NTSB CAROL accident database (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory filings) · Public consumer review signals (audited, never trusted, in the composite Consumer Z Score™) · Proprietary Consumer Z Score™ methodology · Updated: October 2026
APA, zReports Research Institute. (2026). California Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report (v2026.10). zReports.org. https://zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ca
MLA, zReports Research Institute. “California Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report.” zReports.org, v2026.10, October 2026, zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ca.
Plain, California Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report, zReports Research Institute, v2026.10, updated October 2026, zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ca