Fewer Delays For Colorado Airports

Corporate operators can expect fewer delays at Colorado’s Craig, Steamboat Springs, Hayden and Rifle Airports this winter since the Colorado DOT has purchased and installed a $5.7 million Sensis multilateration system to track aircraft well below the mountain-affected line of sight of distant FAA secondary surveillance radars (SSR). Under the SSR environment, this meant a “one out, one in” approach sequence, with lengthy “procedural” in-trail separations and a daily average of 75 delays during winter. Five miles in-trail is now expected with the new system. Colorado’s DOT anticipates future multilateration installations covering Alamosa, Aspen, Cortez, Durango, Gunnison, Montrose and Telluride.