Opponents of a plan to replace the nation's fifth busiest airport are pulling out all the stops with just one week before voters decide the issue.
A Rocky Mountain News poll shows support to replace Stapleton International Airport remains 2-to-1 among Denver voters.Business owners who would suffer economically if Denver's airport is moved have formed a group called Save Our Stapleton and have hired high-priced political consultant Roger Ailes.
Ailes' television ads for George Bush in last fall's presidential election made Michael Dukakis look unsoldierly while riding in a tank. His first ad for the Save Our Stapleton group depicted Mayor Federico Pena looking awkward in a construction hard hat as an unseen announcer warns that "developers" and "politicians" are trying to sell Denver a bad project.
Denver wants to build the first major new airport in the United States since 1974, when the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was built.
Stapleton was built in 1929 in northeast Denver.
"It's patchwork and glue, baling wire and chewing gum," Stapleton spokesman Richard Boulware said. "Everything has been added on since. We even have some of the original control tower from 1929 in the sub-basement."
Opponents say a new airport is unneeded. They cite figures showing passenger traffic at Stapleton has declined during the past two years and say Stapleton can be expanded.
The airport has become more than just a local and statewide issue.
The Federal Aviation Administration would like to see new airports built in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
New airports have become so expensive that aviation analysts predict only one or two will be built before the end of the century. Cost estimates of the new Denver airport range from $1.7 billion to $2.3 billion.
Where the money ultimately would come from to build an airport has been at the heart of debate.
A federal judge ruled Monday that Denver may not increase landing fees or use airline money to pay for the proposed new airport, but said the city could use concessions fees.
The two main airlines at Stapleton, United and Continental, responded to the ruling by saying the city should refund at least $8 million paid toward the proposed new airport between 1985 and 1986.
Concessions funds amount to about $30 million a year. Officials estimate increased landing fees would have brought in an additional $10 million annually.
"People all over the country are looking at Denver to see what will happen," said Bill Kenyon, a spokesman for a pro-airport group's Let's Vote Yes campaign.
"The ad the opposition has put on the air is offensive to this community," said John Frew, who is directing campaign. "They have lobbed a sizable hand grenade at us."
He said Stapleton has gotten a bad reputation for delays and has limited capacity to expand.
Several years ago, Western Airlines, whose hub is in Salt Lake City, ran an advertising campaign that said, "Fly with us and never fly through Stapleton again."
Even opponents acknowledge some of the remarks are justified.
Stapleton has limited capacity to handle jumbo jets. Those planes are put into what pilots call the "penalty box" while waiting for an access ramp, and delays can last from 20 minutes to an hour.
When it snows, the number of operating runways sometimes is cut from four to one, snarling air traffic across the United States.