Don’t panic about the runway or the money

Wow, lots of Aspen airport thoughts are hitting the newspaper, appropriately enough, for such an important and integral part of our community.

I am sorry to say I disagree with the airport advisory board vote to move the runway 80 feet to the west. As I understand it, there are two compounding factors driving this recommendation; the strong desire by some to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration category of the airport to allow larger aircraft, and an FAA threat to withhold federal grant money if the airport runway isn’t moved.

First, let’s not panic here about the runway in its current location and category; it works just fine where it is for plenty of the current aircraft, both private and commercial. It is not “hobbling” the airport to keep its current level of service.