Editor:
In reading Mayor Torre’s opinion piece on the airport plan, (“Expanding the runway will create a host of issues,” July 18, Aspen Daily News) all I could think of was how much I wished he had done some research and learned the facts.
I have talked with airline leaders, pilots and highway construction personnel and this is what I have learned.
The new planes will be larger, but the airlines expect they’ll need fewer flights per day. It's unlikely that they will somehow magically increase the number of daily passengers coming to Aspen.
The new fleet will be quieter and more fuel efficient. Quieter planes and fewer of them is a plus for the valley.
The aging United Airlines fleet appears to be in serious disrepair. Arriving on a Sunday night two weeks ago, we had a four-hour wait in Denver while they cleared plane maintenance issues in Aspen and then again in Denver. Finally they had to swap out another plane. All three of United’s evening planes from Denver to Aspen were seriously delayed that night — and that’s not unusual.
The pilots using our airport know in detail why the shift of financing the operation of the airport to fees paid by private aviation won’t work. The calculations miss the mark and as they told me, “That won't work.”
Anyone who has to use the airport in any busy season knows that the terminal is hopelessly overloaded. Ask for the “user experience” before making statements about our having a friendly, usable airport today.
Just the facts, please.
Bill Kaye
Aspen