A wildfire dubbed the Kittle Fire broke out roughly 3.5 miles southwest of Ruedi Reservoir on August 19 and quickly grew past 20 acres, sending smoke into the flight paths around Aspen/Pitkin County Airport. Air traffic was suspended Wednesday evening as visibility and smoke conditions made flight operations unsafe, grounding arrivals and departures at the mountain airport during a peak late-summer travel window.
Airport officials said Thursday morning that despite the ongoing fire, airlines expected to operate as close to normal as conditions allowed, and traffic resumed after the Wednesday evening suspension. Some regional carriers, including SkyWest-operated flights, still logged cancellations tied to the smoke, underscoring how quickly wildfire activity in the Rockies can scramble schedules even after the immediate shutdown lifts.
American Airlines issued a travel alert covering the Aspen wildfire, extending to passengers booked through August 23. Eligible travelers with tickets to or from Aspen (ASE) during the alert window can make one-time changes to their itinerary without a fee, provided the new travel dates and routing meet the airline’s rebooking rules.
Aspen’s airspace sits in a narrow mountain valley that is especially sensitive to smoke and reduced visibility, meaning even small nearby fires can trigger outsized disruption. Travelers flying through ASE this week are advised to monitor both their airline’s alerts and the airport’s own status updates, since conditions have shifted quickly in both directions over the past two days.
Sources: SnowBrains, American Airlines Travel Alerts
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