Colorado

Photo above – The Burlington-Kit Carson Airport received an $1,800 Aviation Education and Workforce Development Grant to upgrade its flight simulator. Certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, the simulator is available for public use.

The Colorado Aeronautical Board approved just over $385,000 in Colorado Aviation Education and Workforce Development grants.  The grants were awarded on June 6, 2024, during a meeting of the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) held in conjunction with the Colorado Airport Operators Association (CAOA) Spring Conference.

A total of 14 organizations applied to compete for the $400,000 allocated and approved for the FY2025 grant program by the CAB in January 2024. Each applicant was required to answer a battery of nine questions regarding the details of the aviation program they proposed to be funded through the Colorado Aviation Education and Workforce Development Grant Program.  All 14 applicants were awarded grants for the FY2025 grant cycle.

This aviation grant program aims to support organizations and entities that focus on aviation education and workforce development, as well as those that help develop the talent pipeline needed to meet the future aviation system needs of Colorado.

The Colorado Aviation Education and Workforce Development Program is fully supported by the Division’s overall mission to advance a safe and efficient aviation system through collaboration, investment, and advocacy.

Click here for a comprehensive listing of the FY2025 Aviation Education and Workforce Development Program grant awards.

Photo The Burlington-Kit Carson Airport received an $1,800 Aviation Education and Workforce Development Grant to upgrade its flight simulator. Certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, the simulator is available for public use.

Photo above – The founders of the Colorado Division of Aeronautics were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their pivotal roles in establishing the Division. L-R: Colorado Division of Aeronautics Director David Ulane, Colorado Governor Roy Romer, Colorado State Senator Lewis Entz, Colorado Aeronautical Board Chair Kent Holsinger.

The visionaries behind the creation of the Colorado Division of Aeronautics were honored with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) for their crucial roles in its establishment. Colorado’s 39th Governor, Roy Romer, and former Colorado State Senator Lewis Entz received their awards on Thursday, June 6, 2024, during a ceremony at the Colorado Airport Operator’s Association (CAOA) Spring Conference.

On May 24, 1988, on the tail of Senator Entz’s aircraft, Colorado Governor Roy Romer signed House Bill (HB) 88-1250 into law, leading to the creation of the Colorado Division of Aeronautics under Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S) 43-10. This legislation marked a significant milestone in Colorado’s aviation history, particularly with the creation of the Colorado Aviation Fund and the Colorado Discretionary Aviation Grant Program (CDAG). Funded by aviation fuel sales taxes, the CDAG Program has contributed over $1 billion to the Colorado Aviation System.

Since its inception, the Division has been essential in developing, maintaining, and enhancing Colorado’s aviation system. It oversees various critical initiatives, including funding airport improvements, promoting aviation education, and enhancing the safety and economic viability of the Colorado Aviation System.

Roy Romer, a licensed pilot for 70 years, served as Colorado’s Governor from 1987 to 1999. He frequently used his personal aircraft for business, demonstrating his advocacy for aviation and his vision to improve Colorado’s infrastructure, with aviation as a key element.

Senator Lewis Entz, the bill’s sponsor, was also a licensed pilot. He represented Colorado’s rural communities and had a personal connection to small rural airports. His legislative vision supported both large busy airports and small rural airports, which are vital to their communities.

Today, the Colorado Airport System includes 76 public-use airports, with 14 offering scheduled air service. According to the 2020 Colorado Aviation Economic Impact Study, Colorado airports support 345,661 jobs, generating $16.2 billion in annual payroll and $48.6 billion in total annual business revenue.

Photo above – On May 17, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 24-1235. This new legislation is aimed to help reduce aviation impacts on Colorado communities. Photo L-R: Rep. Shannon Bird, Gov. Jared Polis, Rep. Kyle Brown, Sen. Steve Fenberg. Photo by Shahn Sederberg – CDOT.

On May 17, 2024, before a small group of community members and bill sponsors, Governor Jared Polis signed into law House Bill (HB) 24-1235. The new legislation is aimed at reducing the impacts of aviation on Colorado’s communities with a focus on the transition to unleaded aviation fuel and mitigation of aircraft noise.

The signed legislation comes after months of community town halls, and cooperation between the bill sponsors, local community members, and constituents representing Colorado aviation interests. This cooperation ultimately led to a bill worthy of solid bipartisan support.

“We heard from the aviation community, and I commend them for being committed to working with us to solve these problems, and in particular, to transitioning away from leaded aviation fuel”, said bill Co-Sponsor and Colorado House Representative Kyle Brown.

Measures in the legislation include adding two new Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) members representing Colorado communities impacted by aviation, and a non-voting position from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment to act as a technical advisor to the CAB.

Other measures in the HB24-1235 include:

• Incentivizes aircraft owners to transition their aircraft to unleaded aviation fuel by providing a refundable income tax credit for qualified expenses.
• Ensures that the lesser of 10 percent or $1.5M of state aviation funding per year goes toward aiding the transition to unleaded aviation gasoline.
• Requires certain airport grant recipients to adopt a plan for phasing out sales of leaded aviation gasoline by 2030, and establish and publish a voluntary noise abatement plan.

“We’re very excited about the overall transition to unleaded aviation fuel. This bill will very specifically accelerate that transition by ensuring that state grants for airports support infrastructure upgrades for unleaded aviation fuel,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.

In support of the CAB’s and Division’s commitment to assisting Colorado’s public-use airports transition to unleaded aviation fuel, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) was awarded a $35,000 state matching grant for the installation of a Federally funded unleaded aviation fuel tank. This complements an August 2023 Division surplus equipment grant for BJC, which provided $40,000 to the airport for the purchase of a pre-owned fuel truck that will be dedicated to dispensing unleaded aviation fuel.

Last May, Centennial Airport (APA) became the first airport in Colorado to offer unleaded aviation fuel. Additionally, the airport introduced a subsidy program to assist aircraft owners, operators, and fixed-base operators in transitioning to unleaded aviation fuel. APA is currently awaiting CAB approval for a grant request to further support the airport’s subsidy program. To date, over 80% of the training aircraft operated at Centennial Airport have been certified to safely use unleaded aviation fuel.

These projects pave the way for future state funding to help airports transition to unleaded aviation fuel as the industry makes progress towards a 100-octane unleaded fuel that can be safely used in all piston-powered general aviation aircraft.

Over the next few weeks, the Division of Aeronautics staff will be working to implement the provisions of HB24-1235, including outreach to airports about the particular requirements imposed by the bill, and the new unleaded aviation fuel transition funding provisions created by the legislation.

Photo above – An aerial view of the Yampa Valley Regional Airport (HDN) in Hayden, Colorado. HDN was awarded a total of $527,777 in state funding to support federally funded projects to rehabilitate Taxiway A, construct a runway blast pad, and design for a future terminal expansion.

Last month, the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) approved a second round of 2024 Colorado Discretionary Aviation Grant (CDAG) funding totaling $4.7 million. This funding was approved unanimously and will be utilized as a match for federally funded airport projects across Colorado.

“Colorado’s local airports are gateways to the incredible communities around our state and important economic drivers. These grants will provide additional resources to help improve these airports, improve safety, and create more connections to Colorado airports,” said Governor Jared Polis.

The Colorado Airport System consists of 76 public-use airports that support over 345,661 jobs, provide $16.2 billion in annual payroll and $48.6 billion in total annual business revenue/output for the State of Colorado.

In addition to the Federal AIP funding, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), has provided an additional influx of Federal funding into Colorado’s system of airports. BIL allocations provide an additional $27M ($86M with DEN included) of funding statewide per year from 2022 through 2026. These BIL allocations require the same matching component as the AIP funding. Subsequently, the Division has planned to provide half the local matching requirement to ensure airports are able to accept these additional federal funds.

Combining requests for both the AIP and BIL programs, 29 airports were awarded $3,787,467 in 2024 State matching funds leveraging over $92 million in Federal funding. A combined total of over $119 million in state, local, and federal funding was allocated to fund 2024 AIP and BIL projects. The following table is a breakdown of the AIP and BIL programs:

“In addition to providing state funding that raises the bar for the Colorado aviation system in terms of safety, efficiency, and viability, our Division is committed to proactively helping our airports transition to unleaded aviation fuels as they are approved and become available,” said Aeronautics Division Director David Ulane. 

In addition to the 2024 Federal match grants approved by the CAB, a $900,000 state and local grant was awarded to the Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) for the acquisition of a new Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) Vehicle.  With the addition of the GJT grant, the second-round of 2024 discretionary aviation grants approved by the CAB totaled $4.7 million in state funding.

The second round of CDAG funding follows CAB’s approval in January of nearly $11.3 million supporting state and locally funded airport improvement projects. In total, the 2024 CDAG program includes 65 grants awarded to 39 airports totaling $16 million in state funding. Combining all 2024 state, local, and federal funding, a grand total of $135 million in funding will support critical airport improvement projects focused on achieving goals set by the 2020 Colorado Aviation System Plan to enhance safety, efficiency, and economic sustainability at airports all across the State of Colorado. The following table is a breakdown of the 2024 CDAG Program grand totals *excluding Federal funding for Denver International Airport (DEN):

The Yampa Valley Regional Airport (HDN) was awarded a total of $527,777 in state funding to support federally funded projects to rehabilitate Taxiway A, construct a runway blast pad, and design for a future terminal expansion. Along with just over $1 million in funding from HDN, this grant will leverage $13.8 million in federal AIP and BIL funding. “Routt County and the HDN Team are very appreciative of the continued partnership and support provided by the Colorado Aeronautics Board and Colorado Division of Aeronautics. We look forward to executing these important projects to maintain and improve our world-class airport,” said Yampa Valley Regional Airport Director Kevin Booth.

In support of the CAB’s and Division’s commitment to assisting Colorado’s public-use airports transition to unleaded aviation fuel, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) was awarded a $35,000 state matching grant for the installation of a Federally funded unleaded aviation fuel tank. This complements an August 2023 Division surplus equipment grant for BJC, which provided $40,000 to the airport for the purchase of a pre-owned fuel truck that will be dedicated to dispense unleaded aviation fuel. These projects pave the way for future state funding to help airports transition to unleaded aviation fuel as industry makes progress towards a 100-octane unleaded fuel that can be safely used in all piston-powered general aviation aircraft.

Colorado legislation was created in 1991 to develop and maintain the Colorado Aviation System through taxes collected on aviation fuel sold within the state. There are no general funds used to meet the needs of the Colorado Aviation System. The Colorado Aviation System is funded solely through the taxes collected by those using the aviation system.

 More information can be found at Colorado-Aeronautics.org.

Photo above – A 2023 aerial view of Greely-Weld County Airport (GXY). The Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) approved a $2 million Colorado Discretionary Aviation Grant (CDAG) to rehabilitate the airport’s general aviation apron. Photo by Shahn Sederberg, CDOT.

The Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) approved the FY2024 state and locally funded discretionary aviation grants for Colorado airports during a January 23, 2024, CAB meeting. The unanimous decision authorized the distribution of $11.3 million in state aviation fuel tax revenues through grants to 21 Colorado public-use airports under the Colorado Discretionary Aviation Grant (CDAG) Program administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Division of Aeronautics.

The grants ranged from $67,500 and as much as $2 million. This year’s grant awards were categorized into six different project types including airfield construction and rehabilitation, pavement maintenance, snow removal equipment and storage facilities, weather reporting, and other airport projects. 40% of this year’s discretionary aviation grant awards were allocated to support seven airfield construction and rehabilitation projects, including a $2 million grant awarded to Greeley-Weld County Airport to fund 90% of the cost of rehabilitating the airport’s general aviation apron.

A comprehensive listing of each airport grant award can be found here.

“On behalf of the Greeley-Weld County Airport Authority staff and board, we are grateful for the CDOT Division of Aeronautics’ decision to fund our main ramp rehabilitation project. This grant and previous grants we have received from the division have been integral to the airport’s safety and success over the years. We look forward to the continued work that the division puts into building and maintaining Colorado’s aviation network and would like to thank the staff for their commitment to their work,” said Greeley-Weld County Airport Director Cooper Anderson.

Planners with the Colorado Division of Aeronautics are now in preparation for a second cycle of grant awards. The Federal Matching Fund Grant Hearings will take place at the upcoming Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2024.

Photo above – A record number of airports attended this year’s Surplus Airport Equipment Sale. In total, 29 airports purchased 53 pieces of equipment. The Colorado Division of Aeronautics funded nearly 75% of just over $1 million in sales.

The 2023 Surplus Airport Equipment Sale went into the record books as the largest and most attended sale in the program’s history. Taking place on August 31st, a record number of 29 Colorado public-use airport managers and sponsors took advantage of the sale coordinated through a long-standing partnership with Denver International Airport (DEN).

In total, 53 pieces of well-maintained airport equipment were sold to 29 airports generating just over $1 million in revenue. Through funding allocated by the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB), the Division funded $747,600 of this total, minimizing purchase costs to local airport sponsors.  It’s estimated that had all of this equipment been purchased new, the total cost would have been well over $10 million.

Led by the Division’s Kaitlyn Westendorf, the Colorado Surplus Airport Equipment Program continues to be the Division’s largest and longest-standing statewide initiative. For over 20 years, this program has helped numerous airports affordably attain critical airport-specific equipment that significantly helps enhance the safety and efficiency of Colorado’s Airport System.

Each year the Colorado Division of Aeronautics recognizes a Colorado airport and aviation professional who has made outstanding contributions to the Colorado Aviation System. Additionally, the Aeronautics Division Director presents the 2023 Director’s Award. This year’s awards presentation took place at the 2023 Colorado Airport Operators Association (CAOA) Spring Conference held in Colorado Springs, CO June 21-23.

This year’s Colorado Airport of the Year was awarded to Denver International Airport (DEN), one of the busiest airports in the world with over 69 million passengers traveling through the airport in 2022. “We are honored to be recognized as the 2023 Colorado Airport of the Year,” said DEN CEO Phil Washington. “This award acknowledges the hard work and dedication of more than 37,000 airport employees and our partners.”

“For decades, DEN has been a stalwart supporter of our Division of Aeronautics and Colorado’s entire statewide aviation system.  Their collaboration with us on a number of impactful statewide initiatives has made all of our airports safer, more efficient, and more accessible, and we are proud to recognize them as our 2023 Airport of the Year”, said David Ulane

The Colorado Airport of the Year Award is presented annually by the Colorado Division of Aeronautics to recognize Colorado public-use airports that exhibit outstanding contributions to the Colorado Aviation System. Airports distinguished with this recognition demonstrate values that fall in line with the CDOT Division of Aeronautics’ mission to advance a safe, efficient, and effective statewide aviation system through collaboration, investment, and advocacy.

According to the 2020 Economic Impact Study of Colorado Airports, DEN is responsible for supporting 259,084 jobs, producing over $11.1 billion in annual payroll, while generating $33.5 billion in overall business revenue.

The Division presented the Colorado Aviation Professional of the Year Award to Grand County Airports Manager Josh Schroeder. Josh is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of Grand County’s two airports: Grand County Airport/Emily Howell Warner Field (GNB) and Kremmling-McElroy Field (20V). This award is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Colorado Aviation System. Individuals distinguished with this award demonstrate values that fall in line with the CDOT Division of Aeronautics’ mission to advance a safe, efficient, and effective statewide aviation system through collaboration, investment, and advocacy.

“I certainly did not earn this award by myself”, said Grand County Airports Manager Josh Schroeder. “In order to keep an airport running smoothly, it takes a great deal of collaboration between airport staff, County administration, airport stakeholders, volunteers, consultants, FAA and Division of Aeronautics. I am deeply honored to receive this award and so very grateful to the countless people who have supported me in my role as airport manager.”

Josh began his aviation career in 2005 as a technician with Adam Aircraft. Josh went on to study Aviation Management at the Metropolitan State University of Denver Department of Aviation & Aerospace Science. In 2017, Josh became an Airport Maintenance Technician for Grand County, Colorado. In 2019, Josh was promoted to the County’s Airports Manager for GNB and 20V.