{"id":2451912,"date":"2019-12-05T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=317203"},"modified":"2019-12-05T22:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T05:30:00","slug":"future-of-aspen-airport-begins-to-take-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/future-of-aspen-airport-begins-to-take-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Future of Aspen airport begins to take flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The terminal at the Aspen\/Pitkin County Airport is always busy during the holiday season.<\/strong>
Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The size and shape of Aspen\u2019s new airport took a major step forward Thursday night.<\/p>\n

After 10 months of looking at the proposed airport expansion, representatives of the 49 Aspen-area residents who took part in the analysis presented their findings to the main committee that will make final recommendations on the project to the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an emotional topic in our community,\u201d Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock told the crowd gathered Thursday at the Aspen Institute\u2019s Doerr-Hosier Center. \u201cIt has been for a lot of decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the recommendations presented Thursday, the new Aspen-Pitkin County Airport \u2014 which is at least five years from fruition \u2014 will feature a wider runway able to accommodate planes as large as the smallest 737s now in the air. The new 75,000- to 90,000-square-foot terminal building will feature eight gates to begin with, jet bridges with a view that could be open-air, and professionally laid-out facilities that maximize efficiency and traffic flow.<\/p>\n

Finally, the proposed new airport will fit seamlessly into the upper Roaring Fork Valley\u2019s transportation system, and possibly be a regional hub, with improved public bus service and room for private cars, taxis, ride-share vehicles, bicycles and whatever other modes of moving people might become popular.<\/p>\n

Now, it falls to the 26-member Vision Committee \u2014 headed by former Aspen Mayor John Bennett \u2014 to study the recommendations and come up with a plan for county commissioners, which will likely be finalized in February, said John Kinney, Aspen airport director. After that, the five-member board of commissioners will make the final decision.<\/p>\n

Bennett began Thursday\u2019s meeting noting that it marked a significant milestone in the process \u2014 sponsored and facilitated by Pitkin County administrators \u2014 to create a new community airport.<\/p>\n

The three subcommittees, which began meeting in February, looked at the runway expansion issue, the terminal building and airport-related transportation issues. Members of each committee presented majority and minority reports Thursday to the Vision Committee.<\/p>\n

The most historic and controversial recommendation came from the runway committee, which voted to recommend reconfiguring the runway to allow so-called \u201cGroup 3\u201d airplanes with wingspans of up to 118 feet \u2014 which includes 737s \u2014 to land in Aspen. Currently, the airport can only accommodate airplanes with up to 95-foot wingspans.<\/p>\n

The mention of 737s conjures one of Aspen\u2019s darkest boogeymen, and the mid-1990s fight led by counterculture writer and longtime Woody Creek resident, Hunter S. Thompson, that culminated in a decisive community vote denying the airport\u2019s expansion. Nearly a quarter-century later, however, it\u2019s the likely decline of Aspen\u2019s modern air service that prompted a change of heart, at least among some community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe uncertainty of doing nothing is more consequential than the possible introduction of (larger) aircraft,\u201d said Bill Tomcich, a longtime area tourism hand and a member of the runway committee.<\/p>\n

The 76-seat jets that now fly into Aspen \u2014 known as CRJ-700s \u2014 were last built in 2011 and are \u201can absolute certainty\u201d to be retired in the next 10 to 20 years, he said. Their replacements will have wingspans larger than 95 feet, though they also will be quieter and more fuel-efficient, according to Tomcich, airport officials and county administrators.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, Tomcich said, they recommended making the airport Group 3 aircraft-compatible, which will require moving the runway 80 feet west of its current location and widening it from 100 feet to 150 feet to accommodate the larger wingspans.<\/p>\n

The subcommittee did not recommend a specific type of aircraft for Aspen\u2019s proposed new airport \u2014 that is up to the airlines \u2014 but both Tomcich and Chris Bendon, another committee member who spoke Thursday, said 737s are \u201chighly unlikely\u201d to become the dominant carrier for Aspen.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re too large, for one, and airlines can\u2019t sell that many seats to Aspen year-round, Tomcich said. In fact, only the smallest version of the 737 \u2014 known as the 700 \u2014 could land here, he said. Airport consultants have said there\u2019s \u201cno way\u201d the next two larger versions \u2014 the 800 and 900 \u2014 could operate in Aspen based on their necessary specs.<\/p>\n

That only leaves the 737 Max 7, the smallest of Boeing\u2019s controversial new version of the plane, which is unlikely to ever be built because the company has received few orders for it, Tomcich said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe today that it represents a realistic threat of being a dominant aircraft here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the runway, the committee also urged that total emissions from the airport be reduced by 30% by 2030.<\/p>\n

Phil Holstein, a longtime Woody Creek Caucus member, presented the subcommittee\u2019s minority report and said he agreed with most of his colleagues\u2019 recommendations, except one. He said he did not agree that immediately making the airport compatible with Group 3 aircraft was a good idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the uniqueness of Aspen is one of the major reasons for our economic vitality,\u201d Holstein said. \u201cWe are not Anywhere, USA. I am concerned we are beginning to push the envelope of that uniqueness and put that uniqueness in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he worried about what might happen if three or four large airplanes disgorged 300 to 400 people at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not L.A.\u201d Holstein said. \u201cI don\u2019t want a facility that can accommodate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the terminal, the main decision was the number of gates, said Rich Burkley, an Aspen Skiing Co. vice president and the member of the terminal committee who spoke Thursday. The subcommittee settled on eight \u2014 one more than the current number \u2014 with the possibility of more built into any design to account for the future, he said.<\/p>\n

Jay Hughes, who spoke for the minority, said seven gates would better serve the community.<\/p>\n

The jet bridges were recommended because of safety and access issues, though committee members wanted to preserve the views of the area when people deplane, Burkley said. Hence the idea for roofless or open-air jetways, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe terminal is not acceptable for travelers or employees, so it needs to be changed,\u201d Burkley said.<\/p>\n

Finally, the airport\u2019s transportation niche needs improvement, said Barry Vaughan, a member of that subcommittee who spoke Thursday. For one thing, Roaring Fork Transportation Authority buses are \u201cdramatically under-utilized\u201d at the airport, he said. Most people who get off at the airport bus stop work at the facility or are headed for the Aspen Business Center.<\/p>\n

Improving the walk from the bus stop to the terminal will be key in improving that service, said Jean Dodd, who also spoke Thursday.<\/p>\n

That subcommittee also recommended airport-specific buses with added luggage storage, building a new \u201cmulti-modal transportation facility\u201d at the airport and providing facilities that are better protected from the weather, they said.<\/p>\n

Aspen\u2019s current airport facility opened in 1976 as a 17,500-square-foot building, which was redeveloped in 1986-87 and is currently a hodgepodge of about 47,000 square feet. It doesn\u2019t accommodate current numbers of travelers, employees or luggage, officials have said.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The terminal at the Aspen\/Pitkin County Airport is always busy during the holiday season.Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times The size and shape of Aspen\u2019s new airport took a major step forward Thursday night. After 10 months of looking at the proposed airport expansion, representatives of the 49 Aspen-area residents who took part in the analysis presented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 03:39:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}