Analysis of Airport - Airport Planning and Administration | AVIT 402, Study notes of Ways of warfare

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Executive Review

Description of the Airport

History

The Aspen Pitkin airport was founded by Walter Paepcke and John Spachner in 1946 as a public

use gravel strip. The first big user of the airport was the Aspen Institute who was the forerunner

of Aspen Airways. The first facility on the airport was a log cabin terminal building that was

next to the gravel runway. The Aspen Airport Corporation turned the airport over to Pitkin

County in 1956 in order to be able receive federal aid in airport development. This action led to

quick development of the airport and runway [ CITATION AIR104 \l 1033 ].

In 1957 the Civil Aeronautics Association and Pitkin County funded the initial

construction of runway 15/33 including a connecting taxiway and an apron. The original

construction built the runway to a length of 5,200 feet and a width of 60 feet, and in 1958 the

airport was officially dedicated as the Aspen Pitkin County, Sardy Field Airport. The runway

was then lengthened to 6,000 feet in 1963 and later in 1969 they widened the runway to 80 feet

to accommodate larger aircraft. During the same project they added on to the apron to make its

total area 400,000 sq. ft. The focus then turned to customer air service during the 1970’s and the

County provided centralized passenger service. The airport bought an area of land of about 29

acres to build a new terminal building and in 1973 the airport built an aircraft parking apron to

serve the new terminal building. In 1976 the first terminal was built to a size of 17,500 square

feet and was the first commercial building in the United States to use passive solar heating

[ CITATION AIR104 \l 1033 ].

In 1983 the runway went under its most recent reconstruction, lengthening it to 7,006 feet

and widening it to 100 feet. In 1986 and 1987 the terminal went under its most recent

reconstruction as well, increasing the size to 37,500 square feet and added in several

accommodations including new vehicular access roadways. The aircraft parking area was

expanded in 1999 to allow for a greater number of aircraft to park at the airport [ CITATION AIR

\l 1033 ].

Ownership and Management

Aspen airport is owned by thy Pitkin County of Colorado and is operated by the Pitkin

County Board of Commissioners. The chair of the board is George Newman and the vice chair

of the board is Rachael Richards. Other members include Patti Kay-Clapper, Michael Owsley,

and Jack Hatfield [ CITATION The08 \l 1033 ]. Each member is responsible for a certain

district in Pitkin County and hold meetings twice a month to discuss certain issues including the

development and sustainment of the airport. The airport’s management is split up into 4

departments, administrative staff, operations, training safety and standards, and facilities. The

airport manager is James Elwood who is the director of aviation and David Ulane and Francey

Jesson are the assistant directors of aviation. Other administrative staff include Steven Schultz

who is the office and properties administrator and B.J. DeHerrera who is the accounting

administrator. The operations staff consists of Fil Meraz who is the operations coordinator and

several operations officers which include Chris Savage, Monique Widener, Carlos Laverty,

Garrett Seddon, Brett Fay, and Timothy Burke. Training, safety, and standards department has

Runway Configuration/ATCT Hours of Operation/Air Carriers/Operation/Enplanements

The runway went under its most recent reconstruction in 1983 to be lengthened to 7,

feet long and 100 feet wide. Runway 15/33 is the only runway on the airport with the hangars,

tower, FBO and terminal on the east side and the airport fire station on the west side. There are

three air carriers that offer year round service to the airport, which are United Express, Frontier,

and Continental [ CITATION AIR109 \l 1033 ]. In 2009 the airport enplaned 219,

passengers with 18,606 air carrier and air taxi operations. There were 19,670 itinerant and 1,

local operations which totals 39,786 total operations in 2009 [ CITATION AIR106 \l 1033 ].

The tower is located behind the terminal that controls the class D airspace when it is in operation

between 0700 and 2200 [ CITATION AIR106 \l 1033 ]. The airport is closed to all traffic

between the hours of 2300 and 0700 prohibiting flights in and out an hour after the tower closes

and when the tower reopens the next day [ CITATION Air23 \l 1033 ].

Economic Environment

Market size and Population It is the 81st^ largest city in Colorado according to togetherweteach.com [ CITATION tog10 \l 1033 ]. With a population of only 6,671 in 2010 it is not one of the largest cities on a map[ CITATION Col10 \l 1033 ]. Aspen is also pretty well diverse with gender as there are 53.5% male and 46.5% female [ CITATION Cit09 \l 1033 ]. Aspen makes up part of Pitkin county which is only 14,872 people strong in 2000 [ CITATION asp10 \l 1033 ]. The area of service for the airport has a population of 100,675 and includes Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield county[ CITATION Placeholder2 \l 1033 ]. Although the population of Aspen itself is small, it does not take into account the amount of tourist that come through the area. Aspen is part of a very desirable ski destination and the size of the city grows every year during the ski season. Every year about 3,500,000 people come to the Aspen, Vail, and Denver area for vacation[ CITATION Placeholder2 \l 1033 ]. Growth Rate Aspen has grown at a rate of 3% sense 2000 [ CITATION Cit09 \l 1033 ]. This is a growth specific to the amount of people moving in. Aspen Airport stated that its service area population has a 3.6% increase sense 1990 and predicts a growth rate of 2.19% through 2025[ CITATION Placeholder2 \l 1033 ]. This is because of the growth rate of the surrounding counties. An economic study was done about the

 Bank of America[ CITATION sim09 \l 1033 ] (no quantifiable data listed)  Aspen Valley Hospital 250+ employees [ CITATION avh10 \l 1033 ]  Colorado Mountain College 98 employees [ CITATION Sta10 \l 1033 ] The employment numbers of Aspen Pitkin Airport are a combination of many jobs. According to the economic study of the airport the 11,950 employees are anything from the parking enforcement and TSA personnel to other government jobs associated with it and the employees for the airlines themselves[ CITATION asp08 \l 1033 ]. Geographical Conditions Aspen Colorado is a small mountain town located about 200 miles southwest of Denver and 130 from Grand Junction. The city is situated on the southwestern side of the Rocky Mountains which runs through the Denver Co area. It is tucked in on the west side of the mountain range south of the Roaring Fork valley and the Roaring Fork River. It is covered by mountains on three sides, the Red Mountains on the north, the Smuggler Mountains on the east, and the Aspen Mountains on the south. The Airport is located on the northwest part of the city and to the west of the Smuggler Mountains [ CITATION Cit09 \l 1033 ].

Competitive Position

Rivalry Among Area Airports and Threat of New Entrants Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is a unique airport in embedded in the mountains of Colorado, west of Denver. It is west of State Highway 82 and East of County Road 12. Due to its remote location, there is a lack of rivalry in the immediate area. As well, in our opinion, there is a lack of threats of new entrants due to its mountainous location and the fact there are several minor airports in the vicinity of Aspen, with only three posing a minor threat to their tourism business: Vail, Crested Butte, and Denver. “It is reported that many other air carriers have expressed sincere interest in providing commercial air service to Aspen, but lack the aircraft necessary to succeed in this niche market” [ CITATION Placeholder \l 1033 ]. However, they believe that the runway extension will lessen the burden of the airline restrictions on the airport. According to the Master Plan they have looked into looking into future aircraft carriers that manufacture the ERJ-190, but until an airline shows interest in using the aircraft in Aspen and its operational capabilities they will not complete any accommodating expansions (2003). In relation to rivalry, the Master Plan does lay out some vacation destinations that have proven as minor competitors to Aspen: Eagle County Airport, just west of Vail and Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport. “Vail is located approximately 35 miles to the northeast of the airport (102 miles and approximately 2 hours by automobile), Crested Butte is approximately 20 miles to the southwest (

the city. The areas on the eastern portion of Highway 82 has been sold commercially and is a proposed housing area for an upwards of 330 homes in the distant future. As well, the southwestern portion of the airport across County Road 12 has been designated as a reserved ski area [ CITATION Placeholder4 \l 1033 ]. However, Aspen is doing its best with the space allocated. According to the Airport Master Plan of Aspen, in the Concept-Alternatives and Development Plan the airport has already starting implementing plans prepared in 2001 for the East Side Infrastructure Development. The key proponents of the ESID are to relocate the parallel taxiway; as well, there are 96 parking space located in the FAA Specified Runway Object Free Area [ CITATION Dev03 \l 1033 ]. The work in progress includes a centerline separation of 320 feet from 221 feet from the taxiway to runway. This is to create, what they believe to be a safer distance from the taxiway to the runway. Completed and partially completed work of the ESID is to relocate the 96 parking spots and reconstruct the parking area near the main terminal. Other options that were discussed were the moving of the control tower (ATCT) but they decided to keep that on the north side of the airport in the master plan due to the cost of research required to move a tower [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. The second major plan of the Aspen Airport is expanding their runway by 1000 feet to the South, used only for takeoffs to the north. This will maximize the distance that aircraft would have to stop if a takeoff needed to be aborted and, in the winter months, would allow for a longer distance for aircraft to stop in the event of an emergency [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. A longer takeoff distance would also benefit the current fleet of passenger service aircraft by allowing them to operate with higher payloads. However, due to its location, parallel runway, and FAA and local ordinance requirements, the aircraft must remain within a 95-foot wingspan, with 100,000 pounds. The takeoff space and landing distance for Runway 15 would stay 7,006’x100’, and the distances for Runway 33 would become 8,006’x100 for takeoff and 7,006’ for landing [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. Paved shoulders are also proposed for the runway, to make snow removal easier. “The shoulders will be 25 feet in width and will be located on both sides of the runway” [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. In

extension to the runway, the localizer antennae will have to be relocated no further than 1,000 feet from the new runway end. It should also be noted that although Aspen is interested in a precision approach as growth towards the airport. In the past it has not been able to be accomplished due the mountainous terrain, but Aspen is looking at installing new forms of technology to accommodate a GPS or ILS approach, which will be a small building and/or short antennae as to not distract from the mountain landscape [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. Concerns that arise from the extension are more noise towards the south end of the taxiway. This would relate to the housing units southeast of Highway 82, the bike trail near the southern portion of airport property, and the Buttermilk Ski Area base facilities [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. It is projected to remain within the appropriate decibel limits, however, with Aspen’s curfew, noise is a very large concern for this quite mountain tourist destination. As a counterpoint though, the noise on the northern end of the airport would be reduced. Aspen also wants to extend its terminal and add a possible light rail system or underpass for pedestrians that have to cross Highway 82 [ CITATION Pas03 \l 1033 ]. Their three proposed terminal updates mainly focus on passenger needs such as an outdoor waiting and greeting area and parking for the design aircraft of aspen, the BAe-146. The airport would like to install a two story parking garage but they do not want to distract from the small mountain town feel by obscuring the view. The airport also needs room for excessive baggage storage because of weather related cancellations and the luggage that is held as a result. With its space constraints Aspen also has its large mechanical equipment spread throughout the airport and requires a 4800 sq. ft. storage facility. With the existing airport terminal being 44,000 sq. ft. it is undersized by 40% to the 73,000 sq. ft. the airport really requires [ CITATION Pas03 \l 1033 ]. The potential projects are forecasted to take 20 years to evaluate and completed, with three alternatives being considered. Alternative One is builds a new two-level concourse and hold room area, constructs new ticketing and concessions to the south, constructs a temporary baggage claim area in the

constructions project at the airport, and they should begin producing a profit after major projects, such as runway and apron construction, are complete. Aspen is also using their Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) to its fullest extent. According to the Aspen/Pitkin Airport website, they are continuing to impose the maximum amount of $4.50 as a PFC on passengers, with a total anticipated revenue impact of $1,640,955 [ CITATION Asp091 \l 1033 ]. The PFCs earned from the year 2009 were $837,524 [ CITATION Fed091 \l 1033 ]. Projects to be included by the PFCs are runway plow, replacement of Continuous Friction Measurement Equipment (CFME), replace their snow-blower, and develop a capital and related financial plan. The runway plow is also being upgraded after 20 years and PFCs are anticipated to cover the full $491,675 [ CITATION Asp091 \l 1033 ]. The CFME produced by Saab has a reliability issue and has proven difficult to find repair parts for it after 20 years. The cost to replace this is $150,000 to be paid for in full by PFCs [ CITATION Asp091 \l 1033 ]. The replacement of the 10 year old snow blower will cost $700,000 and will also be paid in full by their PFCs [ CITATION Asp091 \l 1033 ]. The final portion covered by PFCs for 2010 goes towards administration fees (implementation of a capital plan and related financial plan), which is estimated to cost $28,000 [ CITATION Asp091 \l 1033 ].

Airport Information

Technological Pace The Aspen Airport strives for technological excellence and has been working to keep their local and iterant passengers content. Free wireless internet for their passengers is provided which has become the industry standard for airports throughout the country [ CITATION Air10 \l 1033 ]. One of the areas where Aspen has not met technological trends is in their passenger boarding system. The majority of commercial enplanements are performed in the winter months during peak ski season. The lack of ability to board passengers directly from the terminal to aircraft brings passengers outside onto the tarmac. Due to the high volume of noise complaints in the Pitkin County area, Aspen/Pitkin County Airport has developed an online noise reporting system. The system has a visual security verification that prevents hackers from developing programs to submit constant, automatic spam complaints which would otherwise render the system useless [ CITATION Placeholder1 \l 1033 ]. Pitkin County expects their airport to operate as environmentally friendly as possible. In the winter months, de-icing of aircraft is standard process for both commercial and general aviation aircraft.

area and pinpoints aircraft with high noise level outputs. Operators which make use of quieter aircraft are praised in reports and community meetings whereas those operating loud aircraft are frowned upon. In the 2009 report, they praised three specific operators that retired aircraft that didn’t meet the requirements of Fly Quiet Operations. The program strives specifically to phase out Stage 2 aircraft, which is a national initiative which previously succeeded in the commercial aircraft industry and is now turning to general aviation aircraft. The Fly Quiet Program has succeeded in decreasing the area inside 55 DNL (Day-Night Noise Average Sound Level) by over 1000 acres over a nine year period starting in 2000. Congruently, the percentage of Stage 2 corporate jet operations has decreased from over 12% of all operations to just over 3% of all operations. Contributing to this drastic noise level improvement is the development of new more efficient and consequently quieter aircraft. The Stage 2 retired aircraft are most often replaced with newer versions of the same model aircraft. Gulfstream IIIs are replaced with Gulfstream IVs for example [ CITATION The10 \l 1033 ]. Environment Programs Three bird strikes at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport led to the start of a wildlife hazard assessment which cost $140,000. The airport received a grant from the FAA which covered all but $7,000 of that cost. The preceding bird strikes, which all occurred in the same month in 2009 were not reported to cause problems for the involved aircraft[ CITATION Jan10 \l 1033 ]. The FAA mandated study turned up results which were no cause for change of operational protocol. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport was found to have no endangered wildlife or plant-life species in the area. It was found to have a significantly large wetland area in the southern portion of the airport inside property boundary lines. This area, however, does not affect development projects. [ CITATION The \l 1033 ]. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport has built a wildlife fence around the property which includes a corridor for ushering big game off airport property when necessary. As outlined in the report, very few

big game species are found in the airport environment, and bird strikes are not a normal occurrence [ CITATION Jan10 \l 1033 ]. SWOT Analysis The SWOT Analysis outlines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Aspen/Pitkin County Airport. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the airport, and opportunities and threats are external. The SWOT Analysis helps to identify areas for development, improvement, and sustainment. Strengths  close proximity to Aspen Skiing Company resorts  many itinerant operations Weaknesses  terrain restricting approaches and departures to head on procedures  lack of straight in approach Opportunities  waiting list for general aviation hangar and apron space  GPS technology Threats  Eagle County Airport  Denver International Airport paired with ground transportation Strengths Aspen/Pitkin County’s close proximity to Aspen Skiing Company’s resorts such as Aspen, Snowmass, Buttermilk, and many others creates an influx of passengers for vacation. Activities around the airport include hiking, skiing, and other outdoor activities. Passengers fly in on commercial, chartered and private aircraft to enjoy the activities offered by Pitkin County. The airport accommodates over 3,500,000 tourists annually [ CITATION For03 \l 1033 ].