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Airport meets with FAA over master plan and runway extension
IMPORTANT NOTICE - CHANGE OF VENUE: Future Airport Advisory Board Meetings will be held on the 2nd Thursday of the month, 6 p.m., in City Council Chambers, 350 Kimbark St, Longmont. This location will continue to be in effect until further notice. Thank you.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 21, 2011
Staff Contact: Tim Barth, Airport Manager, 303-651-8431
City representatives met with personnel from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport District Office last Tuesday to discuss the airport master plan, including the much debated runway extension.
While the FAA understands the need for a runway extension, they do not anticipate funding for an extension to be available for the next 10 years or possibly longer.
FAA personnel further emphasized that the airport master plan is a planning document for the City to use as a tool to outline its future capital projects, over a 20-year-period, and that FAA approval of the plan does not guarantee federal funding or federal participation in any of the projects identified in the plan. The master plan lists projects that are eligible for federal funding, not guaranteed federal funding.For any project listed in the master plan to move forward, would require the approval of the Longmont City Council, and funding would have to be secured.
While the FAA predicts about $3.0 billion dollars in the next five years of Congressional authorized spending for airports in the U.S., the current preference is to provide money to maintain runway conditions throughout the country. Of course, economic changes could reflect changes in FAA policy at any time and the FAA anticipates that Longmont Airport will still receive its annual $150,000 entitlement, pending Congressional authorization. Any runway extension would likely cost $5.0 million and up.
Some in the community have been concerned that a longer runway will attract larger aircraft. However, the FAA, the City of Longmont and the airport master plan do not support such an objective. To accommodate larger aircraft, the airport would essentially have to start over from scratch, with over $40.0 million in improvements and the reconstruction of nearly the entire airport.
Presently, Longmont’s runway is 4,800-feet long. At the last airport open house, Jviation consultants presented several options for runway extensions, ranging from no-extension up to a 1,600-foot extension. The FAA expressed support for an extension of up to 1,000-feet (5,800-feet total length) and said that any length over that would attract larger aircraft. An extension of 1,000-feet also would not affect the alignment of 75th Avenue nor encroach into unincorporated Boulder County land.
The master plan shows that the airport presently accommodates only a fraction of the aircraft it is supposed to accommodate, at their full takeoff weight and fuel load. Longmont Airport carries a “B-II” Airport Reference Code, which include aircraft with an approach speed between 91-120 knots and a wingspan between 49-78 feet, however the existing runway length only accommodates 77% of the piston fleet and 11% of the business aircraft fleet, within the B-II category. A longer runway accommodates more aircraft operating at their higher fuel loads and weights, so pilots do not have to refuel at other airports, thus losing any potential revenue benefit to the airport or the City.
While some in the community don’t want a runway extension, others have supported not only an extension but the desire to see the airport be re-designed to handle larger aircraft. However, Longmont Airport fits a specific aviation need as part of the overall national airspace system and the State of Colorado Aviation System Plan. The FAA has stated that federal dollars were invested in nearby Ft Collins/Loveland Airport and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, to handle the larger, C-II category, aircraft, and is not willing to fund such a program for Longmont Airport. It’s simply not the airport’s role at this time.
Additionally, the airport will be losing some essential pavement, regardless of a runway extension. Longmont Airport previously had a displaced threshold (pavement available for takeoff but not for landing) at the approach end of runway 29 - near Airport Road. Under new FAA policy, the threshold has been relocated and rendered unusable by pilots for takeoff or rollout. The change reflects the FAA’s desire to improve safety in the Runway Protection Zones (RPZ), which Airport Road presently runs through. Under previous FAA policy, RPZ’s, which are intended to protect pedestrians and vehicles, were allowed to have roads through them, but new policy is to eliminate such conditions.
The next airport open house is November 28, 2011, Senior Center, 910 Longs Peak Ave, 4-8 p.m.