Don’t spend your gas driving yourself to work! Save that gas for a night out, or a weekend trip, by taking transit.

The Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport is located near the U.S. 36 and Broomfield Park-n-Ride, connecting to a dozen different routes. Additionally, RMMA is now served directly by RTD Local 228, providing an easy 5-minute connection to the park-n-ride. You can also pre-schedule a trip directly from your office to the park-n-ride using the Interlocken/Westmoor Call-n-Ride.

No matter where you live, there is an RTD Route for you!

U.S. 36 & Broomfield Park-n-Ride is located at Wadsworth Blvd. and Transit Way near the 1st BANK Center in the Arista Development and serves the following routes.

76 (between Lafayette and Littleton via Wadsworth Blvd.)
112 (West 112th Avenue between Broomfield and Westminster)
120 (120th Avenue Crosstown between Broomfield and Brighton)
128 (between Broomfield and Westminster, including Wagon Road Park-n-Ride)
228 (between Broomfield and Louisville, provides direct service to Interlocken Office Park)
AB (SkyRide bus between Boulder Transit Center and points in between Denver International Airport)
BV (between Boulder Transit Center and RTD Market Street Station in Downtown Denver)
DD (between Boulder Transit Center and Colorado Boulevard)
DM (between Boulder Transit Center and University of Colorado Anschutz-Fitzsimons Campus)
L (between Longmont and RTD Market Street Station)
S (between East Boulder and RTD Market Street Station)
T (between RTD Table Mesa Park-n-Ride in Boulder and Denver Tech Center/Greenwood Plaza)
Broomfield Call-n-Ride 303-434-8989
Interlocken/Westmoor Call-n-Ride 303-434-8990

You can plan your door-to-door transit trip using RTD’s Trip Planner service. Visit www.rtd-denver.com; call the RTD Telephone Information Center at 303-299-6000.

Send your success stories, questions, and comments to Catherine at catherine@36commutingsolutions.org.

In an effort to better serve the surrounding communities with noise issues, the Airport has updated the noise hotline system to receive all complaints (both audio and text) via e-mail. This new method for receiving complaints will provide a more effective and efficient way to share the information received from concerned neighbors.

As complaints are received they will be recorded into the noise complaint log, if applicable it will then be forwarded to the most appropriate organizations on the Airport. For example, a training helicopter complaint will be forwarded to the helicopter flight clubs. The Airport will continue to post the noise concerns quarterly on the webpage in a statistical format.

The Airport appreciates all efforts made to help with noise mitigation on and around the surrounding communities. Please contact Chris Nicholas (303) 271-4870 with any questions concerns or comments regarding this program.

The Airport has recently reviewed and updated both the Rules and Regulations and the Minimum Standards. Prior to the adoption of any changes, we will make the proposed drafts available for public comment through the end of November. Please feel free to access both the current Primary Guiding Documents and the proposed drafts on our Web site at www.flyrmma.com. Use the quick link at the bottom of the left hand, purple navigation bar. Comments, concerns or questions can also be submitted through the webpage using the online form.

Media Release
Stans, July 15, 2010

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd announced today that it has completed the delivery of the 1000th PC-12 at a special ceremony at its wholly owned subsidiary Pilatus Business Aircraft, Ltd in Broomfield, Colorado.

Oscar J. Schwenk, Chairman and CEO of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, marking the significance of the occasion, said “The traditional Pilatus qualities of high performance, rugged durability, versatility, and superior operation economics have been the foundation of every PC-12 we build. Today’s PC-12 NG, represented by the 1000th example here, is generations ahead of the first one Pilatus delivered back in 1994. But it still holds to these same principles that have made the PC-12 program such a great success.”

The milestone aircraft was handed over to its new owner, Mr. David Fountain from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who is now a three-time PC-12 owner. A private investor by trade, he plans to fly his new PC-12 himself as he had with his two previous PC-12s. He purchased all three aircraft from V. Kelner Pilatus Center, the exclusive Pilatus Sales and Service Center for Canada located in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Having a record year in 2009 with 100 PC-12 NG deliveries, Pilatus celebrated the delivery of the 900th PC-12 just last year. Since its introduction in 1994, the PC-12 has steadily grown in sales and success to become one of the top selling turbine-powered business aircraft in the world.

The versatile PC-12 performs many roles worldwide, including executive transport, commuter, air ambulance, police and border surveillance, cargo, incident response, military liaison, and regional airliner. The PC-12 fleet has amassed more than 2.6 million flight hours of operating experience, including thousands of hours in some of the harshest environments.

“There is no other aircraft in the world like the PC-12” said Mr. Fountain. “The size, speed, range, and the Swiss quality of the aircraft are exceptional, and it is a joy to fly.”

The snow removal team at Rocky Mountain Metro Airport has received an honorable mention in the category of large general aviation airport for the Balchen/Post award. Six Balchen/Post awards are presented annually to the employees of airports who have demonstrated excellence in the performance of snow and ice control. The award is named for two gentlemen, Col. Bernt Balchen and Wilfred M. “Wiley” Post, who founded the International Aviation Snow Symposium.

Some statistics from the 2009-2010 snow season:

• ~ Number of times the Airport was NOTAM’d closed due to snow or ice: None
• ~ Total snowfall: 64.2 inches
• ~ Average annual snowfall at Airport (1971-2000): 61.7 inches
• ~ Heaviest single snowfall: 22 inches from October 28th to October 30th, 2009
• ~ Number of snowstorms in excess of 2 inches: 10
• ~ Amount of snow equipment owned by Airport: 19 pieces

Congratulations to our snow removal team for their outstanding performance and dedication this season. Thanks for all of your hard work!

The 9/17/09 issue of the USA Today story and a companion news segment on NBC’s Today Show video, represented an extremely slanted view of Airport/Aviation business operations in the United States. Communities all over the U.S. have the world’s safest and most efficient network of over 5200 General Aviation Airport’s. In Colorado alone, there are 60 General Aviation Airport’s. The article and subsequent news report ignored the fact that this side of general aviation remains a critical part of the national air transportation system. Both stories presented skewed views toward major airlines and expressed opinion that improvement dollars should only be applied toward airports that provide only scheduled passenger service. This seems incredibly short sided and ill-informed.

The parent company of USA Today and NBC News operate General Aviation (GA) aircraft. Why? Because aircraft are a critical tool for business transportation needs, saving time and money. At any given moment, news agencies may need transportation to a GA Airport near a large city following a natural disaster or they may need access to a small rural community for a news story and the closest airport with passenger service has limited accessibility that does not meet the urgency of the news story. New Orleans International Airport was closed to airline service for two weeks following Hurricane Katrina. How many big media outlets utilized one of several nearby Louisiana general aviation airports for this significant event?

General Aviation is Business, and serves as the economic engine for the community, large or small. Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (Metro Airport) has an economic annual impact of over $363 million with employment of over 3700 jobs. The FAA has invested $56 million in capital improvements over the past 28 years at Metro Airport – a rather smart investment! Those capital funds invested into this airport were generated not just from taxes paid by passengers for airlines tickets, but also from every gallon of fuel purchased for aviation.

The USA Today article also failed to mention that every tax dollar spent on an airline ticket also goes towards other critical aviation services, such as air traffic control, navigation and safety inspection. General Aviation capital improvements are paid for with the help of federal funds that are generated from aviation. The local airport sponsor also makes a significant investment not only through matching funds, but also the commitment to operate the airport as independently as possible, as a business for minimum of 20 years, meeting federal assurances to protect the FAA, the airport sponsor and their stakeholders. Maybe USA Today and NBC News will keep that in mind the next time a major airline files Chapter 11 or goes to Washington D.C. to lobby for government bailouts and taxpayer subsidies.

Kenneth Maenpa, Airport Manager, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Jefferson County, Colorado.