A Whole Lot of People for a Better Airport holds community panel

A Whole Lot of People for a Better Airport held an Aspen airport panel discussion and Q&A Tuesday evening.

The fate of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport runway, the airport’s layout plan, and the two airport-related November ballot questions were among the topics.

The discussion started off with moderator Greg Goldfarb, an Aspen resident, asking about the state of the runway. 

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Bill Tomcich, a local aviation expert and Fly Aspen Snowmass consultant, said the runway is falling apart and continues to deteriorate every year. The airport undergoes multiple week-long closures every spring for emergency repairs. The spring 2025 closure dates are preparing to be announced, but the repairs are expected to take up most of the month of May.

If Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards are met, about 90% of the runway will be rebuilt with federal funds, Tomcich said. If the standards are not met, the FAA will not pay any of it.

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Commissioner Francie Jacober, who has met with senators and the FAA in Washington, said a $7 million repair will happen on the runway this winter. About $120 million is needed to completely replace the runway. The only bonding that can be done at the airport is from revenue bonds, which come from the fixed-base-operator agreement with Atlantic Aviation, which is almost finalized. 

For the new 30-year lease, estimated minimum guaranteed revenues include $14 million to about $14.63 million for the first four years and $16 million to about $23.22 million for the next 5-30 years until the lease ends. The ground rent and supplemental operating fee revenue ranges from $5 million to $15.59 million. This is a total of $19 million to $138.8 million. The proposed lease with Atlantic Aviation also includes $125 million in one-time capital investments and contributions.

With these totals, along with shares of other gross revenues — like aviation fuel, hangar rentals, and service fees — Pitkin County is expected to make approximately $879 million in revenue in 30 years.

The FAA currently has Aspen’s airport layout plan, but it has not been approved yet. Without approval, the airport cannot receive federal funding. It recently missed out on millions of dollars in federal grants and discretionary funding, which could have gone toward repairing the runway.

As the runway continues to deteriorate, emergency closures may be imminent during future winter seasons, Tomcich said.

The airport’s terminal is another needed update. Jacober, who attended the discussion as an Aspen resident, said the terminal was built in 1972 and has only been updated once since then. 

“You know how crowded the airport can be, especially when we have closures … it is still not adequate for TSA,” she said. “And for those of you who have been there when the winds come up, and you can’t put enough people on flights, and so every flight calls people off and goes on all day. You know, there’s no room to sit down. There was no way to get food, even me, my old age, nobody went out to give you a seat for seven hours. So, that’s the customer experience.”

If this is done on a timely basis, the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the Biden administration, has substantial money for infrastructure like this. The pressure comes from timing to obtain this money. These funds could provide for 50% of the terminal’s upgrades. 

For the people that work at the airport, the experience is not much better, Jacober said. The airport is “below grade,” so when there is severe weather, water can flood the airport. If fuel spills on the taxiway, the fuel will run into the airport. The runway is also crumbling due to water intrusion on the runway.

In 2014, an airport layout plan was in the works, which passed in 2018.. An airport vision committee, concerned about changes they wanted to see at the airport, said increased safety, increased environmental awareness, reduction in greenhouse gasses and noise, and some kind of control as to not promote growth were key components they wanted to see addressed in the plan. These recommendations are known as the common ground recommendations. 

In 2022, the existing airport layout plan was amended again to include the goals of this vision committee. An airport advisory board was also created due to community demand. They went through a rigorous process to make sure every sector in the community was represented.

“So it’s not exactly a quick process?” Goldfarb asked the panelists.

“No, this has been going on for a long time,” Jacober answered.

A part of the modernization plan, the plan of record that the commissioners have supported to maintain an FAA standard, sets a distance of around 400 feet from the runway midline to the taxiway. The current spacing is 320 feet. The disagreement in the community and for the two November ballot questions comes from this 80 feet. The panelists said the widening of the runway is to allow for the planes that will have wider wingspans, which will be more efficient, produce less emissions, and be quieter. 

Ballot measure 1C, Pitkin County Board of Commissioners’ ballot question, seeks to amend Article II of the county’s governing document, the Home Rule Charter, to reaffirm Pitkin County’s power to approve and carry out the layout plan for the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.

Ballot measure 200, the opposition’s ballot question, spearheaded by Citizens Against Bigger Planes, seeks to amend the Home Rule Charter to restrict county officials’ decision-making power regarding the expansion or relocation of any runway at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport beyond the dimensions and locations that existed on Jan. 1 without voter approval in their ballot question. It also clearly defines “runway.”

If both measures pass by a 50% vote, then BOCC’s question supersedes the opposition’s due to the language used in the question. 

Aspen Mayor Torre was among those that asked questions during the Q&A discussion. Another community member and Aspen Fly Right secretary and treasurer Susan Taylor said she thought the whole discussion was a scare tactic.

Goldfarb, however, said that Pitkin County residents have a voice this election cycle. 

“There’s a citizens initiative that the citizens have a voice on, and there’s a Commissioner’s initiative that the citizens have a voice on,” Goldfarb said. “The citizens get to choose which of the initiatives that they want to support if you want to see the modernization plan move forward. A yes on 1C is the vote to support the modernization. 50.1% will govern on each vote.”

Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.