Let’s Build the Airport of Our Dreams

There’s a reason Walter Paepcke built an airport in 1948 as part of his reinvention of Aspen. Getting visitors to Aspen (and later to Snowmass) safely and conveniently was essential to connecting them to the renewal of mind, body, and spirit that defines the Aspen Idea.

More than 75 years later, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is as essential as ever.

Unfortunately, this vital piece of community infrastructure is in desperate need of a complete rebuild. The runway and terminal have not been properly updated since Ronald Reagan was president, and they're both falling apart.

Fortunately, our community is on the path to not just fix those issues, but to do so in a way that will make us all proud.

In 2019, to ensure Pitkin County would create an airport aligned with community values, the county appointed 123 citizens to serve on five working groups over fifteen months to create the “Common Ground Recommendations.” Since then, the Board of County Commissioners has been working to get FAA approval of an Airport Layout Plan that would deliver those Common Ground objectives set by our citizens.

The Common Ground Recommendations can be summed up by the recommendations’ four Core Community Goals:

1. Safety in the air and on the ground.
2. Reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions by at least 30%.
3. Manage the growth of airline enplanements to be consistent with community growth management plans.
4. Reduce noise by at least 30%.

Other specific Common Ground recommendations include seamless ground connectivity to reduce vehicle trips to and from the airport, a new net-zero terminal that serves as a model for the world and reflects our community’s values and connections to arts and culture, and a dramatically improved user experience for both travelers and airport staff.

That plan is currently in the FAA’s hands—but it’s in a holding pattern until the two airport-related questions are resolved by Pitkin County voters on election day. Ballot question 200, if it passes, will bring years of community effort to a hard stop with no alternative plan to move forward. Ballot question 1C, if it passes, will allow the effort to move forward. It’s that simple.

This issue has reached the point of genuine urgency. The FAA has cut off all funding until our community commits to a plan that the FAA deems appropriate. (Fortunately, the Common Ground plan meets their requirements.) Once-in-a-generation federal grant opportunities have application deadlines at the end of July 2025. Truly, hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line. There is a time to do this, and that time is now.

Luckily, there’s an easy path to doing that: By voting Yes on ballot question 1C and No on question 200, Pitkin County’s airport plan will come in for a smooth landing. In a rare display of bipartisan agreement, that combination of votes has been endorsed by both the Pitkin County Democrats and the Pitkin County Republicans. To learn more or to sign up to help this crucial community effort visit ABetterAirport.com.