Aspen Airways

IATA	ICAO	Callsign
AP	ASP	ASPEN AIR

Founded

1952

Ceased operations

1990

Operating bases

Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado

Headquarters

Denver, Colorado, United States

Key people

Walter Paepcke (Founder)
Bill Ringsby(Owner)

Aspen Airways (IATA: AP, ICAO: ASP, Call sign: Aspen Air) was an airline carrier and regional affiliate of United Express and based in Hangar 5 in Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. Aspen ceased operations on April 1, 1990 when separate portions of the airline were acquired by Mesa Airlines and Air Wisconsin Services, Inc.

Aspen Airways was named after the aspen tree and not the town of Aspen, Colorado where it was originally based before moving its headquarters to Stapleton International Airport (DEN) in Aurora, which was a comparatively small town at the time located outside of Denver, Colorado.

Aspen Airways was founded in 1952 by Walter Paepcke, as the flight department of the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. It was created to fly personnel between Aspen (ASE) and Denver (DEN). The airline's first aircraft were surplus Douglas DC-3s.

In 1963, Aspen Airways was purchased by J.W. "Bill" Ringsby. During the late 1960s, Aspen operated a Convair 240 prop aircraft leased from Alaska Airlines and by 1970 was operating four Convair 340/Convair 440 prop airliners which were purchased used from Delta Air Lines. In the early 1970s, Aspen began operating Convair 580 turboprop aircraft. The twin engine CV-580 propjet became the workhorse of the Aspen fleet. Other aircraft operated by Aspen Airways in the 1960s included a Fairchild F-27 turboprop (which didn't work out very well in the high density altitude conditions that can occur at high elevation mountain airfields), and piston and turboprop variants of the de Havilland Heron as well as Piper Navajo and Aero Commander 500B aircraft.

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Wikipedia