Since a site selection study began last year into possibly building a new airport distant from Friedman Memorial Airport, some critics of a move from Hailey have pegged their opposition on hopes of convincing the Federal Aviation Administration to grant a safety waiver to Friedman.
Their argument is that the airport at the Colorado ski resort of Aspen received an FAA waiver.
One critic, Maurice Charlat, a member of the citizens site selection committee representing the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, recently traveled to Aspen to inspect the airport and talk to the field's management about the waiver there.
Charlat said this week that he spent nearly an hour with Dave Ulane, the Aspen airport's assistant manager, for a briefing and to receive a copy of the Sardy Field master plan to study.
"These guys know what they're talking about," Charlat said.
"I don't have any plans to do anything (with the Aspen information) until I consult with those who've voiced some opinions (about seeking a waiver for Friedman). I'm not technically competent," Charlat said.
But Charlat said, "I believe there are grounds for waivers," which "leads me to be hopeful that something could happen from a waiver standpoint" at Friedman.
Usually joining Charlat in claims the FAA might issue a waiver for Friedman have been Wally Huffman, general manager of Sun Valley Co., and Ketchum real estate executive Dick Fenton, who also is a member of the citizens site selection committee, representing the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau.
Aspen's FAA waiver allows operations of a taxiway 320 feet from the runway rather than the required 400 feet. Friedman Memorial is under FAA instructions to widen the current separation of 180 feet on the east side and from 250-330 feet on the west side to 400 feet of separation to comply with requirements of a C-III category airport.
But Ulane told the Mountain Express that comparing Aspen and Friedman is not valid. Aspen's waiver was grandfathered in when the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (ANCA) was enacted.
He also said he doesn't believe any such waivers have been granted since then to any airport.
Physically, Aspen is far different than Friedman, Ulane pointed out. It covers 805 acres versus Friedman's 230 acres, among other things.
Friedman's manager, Rick Baird, also pointed out that the runway-taxiway separation waiver for Aspen is the only exception at that airport that doesn't meet safety-compliance standards.
In a report to Baird, Toothman-Orton consultant Charles Sundby drew up a list comparing airport design standards at Friedman and Aspen, and found that Friedman is out of compliance in virtually every category.
Examples include:
· The runway safety area: The FAA requires a 500-foot width and 1,000-foot length at the approach end; Aspen complies, while Friedman is only 300 feet wide with a 600-foot-long safety area.
●· The runway object-free area: The FAA requires an area at least 800 feet wide and 1,000 feet long in the runway area; Friedman has 723 feet and 600 feet respectively.
Baird, who has repeatedly told critics of a new airport that the FAA won't issue a safety waiver for Friedman, was critical of "some who are trying to convince the community that less-than-standard is OK on a permanent basis" for Friedman Memorial.
"We're one ground incident of any type from losing air service we have worked to achieve because we're in a non-standard condition" at the airport, Baird said.
He said the fact that the Airport Authority is spending more than $16 million on improvements while also studying an alternate site has indicated to the FAA a good-faith effort by Friedman to meet standards.
The FAA has told Friedman it must comply at the current airport or at another one to meet standards of a C-III category facility, a classification determined by landing speeds and wingspans of the largest aircraft operating at the site.
Friedman currently falls short of C-III compliance, the FAA has said.
When the largest airliner operating at Friedman, Horizon Air's four-engine Q400, lands and takes off, the control tower must clear adjoining taxiways of aircraft as a safety measure to avoid possible ground accidents.
At a special community meeting on Sept. 28, the airport's consultants will unveil a series of graphics showing what would be required physically to bring Friedman into FAA compliance and the costs.
An eastward expansion would require condemnation of 40 or more Woodside area homes, relocating state Highway 75 and extending the runway southward on ranch property of the Eccles family, which has indicated it would fight any further expansion.
Westward expansion would require destruction of the existing terminal, now undergoing modifications, and other airport structures.
