Editor:
Stop it. Stop the dumb lies and misinformation. Commercial 737s will not be allowed to use our runway under their own minimum, regulated takeoff runway-length restrictions. Additionally, a modern airport and a slightly wider runway rotated a couple of degrees and shifted 80 feet is not going to ruin our lives.
There is still only one commercial aircraft that would be approved for such a change — the Embraer E-175 — and it's only a few feet bigger than our current CRJs. But its current engines still aren’t powerful enough to carry its own weight given our airport's strict takeoff requirements in our thinner atmosphere. So, it will still be years before that aircraft is approved for our airport operations.
As a citizen of Aspen, I really don’t want to have to foot the bill to be able to use my local airport to fly commercially for work or vacation just because we told the Federal Aviation Administration to take a hike.
Privatizing the airport means more private planes, not fewer, and we locals will have to commute to Eagle, Grand Junction or Denver just to get anywhere on a plane. As a local, what’s fair about that for me? I prefer to let the FAA help fund our airport, with improvements based on their legal, tested recommendations. It's far better than being forced to face the future with our hands tied behind our backs by assumption and hearsay.
Nathan Bachamp
Aspen