Haynes: Move forward with voter approved airport modernization

As vice chair of the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport Advisory Board (AAB) and the appointed liaison for the airport’s terminal development to the AAB and Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), I write this to voice my feelings following the Planning and Zoning Commission’s denial of the Location & Extent permit.

This decision is quite troubling to me because the P&Z interpreted the airport’s development plans to be out of conformance. The denial of the decade-long airport planning process should not obstruct a project that has the backing of the majority of the community. I encourage the BOCC and all of our Roaring Fork Valley citizens to consider the following facts regarding why it is now essential to move forward with the voter approved airport modernization plans.    

Three overwhelmingly successful ballot initiatives supporting the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) Modernization Program have happened: 1A (November 2025) by 63%, 1C (November 2024) by 67% and Question 200 (November 2024) by 60%.  

An extensive community visioning process for a safer, cleaner, quieter airport recommended  the Common Ground Recommendations, which were adopted by a December 2020 BOCC Resolution and collaboratively developed with residents, stakeholders and technical experts.  

It is imperative to recognize the years of community outreach that illustrates strong community support. This began with the ASE Vision process in 2018 and then the BOCC created the AAB. The currently created Terminal Design and Multi-Modal Connectivity Task Forces are composed of 22 Roaring Fork Valley members who were selected and appointed from a list of 87 volunteer candidates. Our task force members are passionately dedicated to implementing the publicly determined Common Ground Recommendations through the ASE Modernization process and work.  

The recent community surveys and four open houses held in the upper and middle Roaring Fork Valley locations, which were attended by over 400 people, cannot be overlooked. Targeted stakeholder meetings and outreach have taken place with community hospitality resources to begin implementing construction, travel and visitation plans for the months of the future runway shutdown.  

The approved and signed AAB/BOCC Airport Layout Plan (ALP) opened the door for the FAA federal funding opportunities that the airport is now beginning to receive.   

Predicated upon the community’s vote and endorsement of the airport and runway modernization, an architectural design team was engaged, and they now have completed the first phase of the new terminal design work. That design work resulted in the comprehensive ASE Concepts and Programming Plan, which was AAB-recommended and BOCC-approved in January 2026, and which allowed the current Terminal Schematic Design phase to commence.   

Another paramount fact is that the current terminal has far exceeded its useful life; it is crammed with passengers when there are flight delays, there isn’t enough room for the current operations, the building starts to flood when there are big storms and the more than 1,000 airport workers’ conditions have been documented as unsanitary and very substandard.   

I urgently appeal to the majority of our community, who have consistently supported this project. Your commitment, whether shown through hours on advisory committees or at the ballot boxes, has been invaluable. Now, we need your continued support for the critically needed new terminal and runway that prioritize environmental sustainability. Continuing on this path to move forward will allow the task force members who represent the community’s perspectives, the AAB and the BOCC to implement, after far too many years, the crucially-needed and publicly-voted-upon airport redevelopment process.