Editorial -- Breaking Sea-Tac's Monopoly

With the legal cases between the Port of Seattle and the Airport Communities Coalition at an end, it's time to take a fresh look at aviation planning in the Central Puget Sound. Why is it that we have only one airport serving most of our needs for scheduled passenger service? Most large urban areas in the U.S. have at least two airports, & usually those airports are competing with one another. Competition is a good thing – it results in better service, lower costs, & increased flexibility. Sea-Tac's efforts to jack up its charges to airlines by 250% demonstrate how monoply power harms the public interest. Multiple airports also provide some assurance of continued air travel in case of natural disaster (earthquakes are our local specialty), fire, flood, plane crash, labor strife, terrorist attacks …. We need to get serious about this problem.

Everyone gives lip service to the idea of having more than one airport to meet our local air-travel demands, even the Port of Seattle. But since this became official policy of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) eight years ago, no public agency has done much to push the idea towards reality. It has fallen to citizen airport-concern groups to keep the flame alive. Seattle Council on Airport Affairs has made a second regional airport one of its three top priorities, & in the months ahead, the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs will be putting renewed emphasis on this issue.

PSRC Wants To Hear from Us

The time is right for citizens & public officials to pay more attention to the single-airport problem. For the first time ever, PSRC will hold its annual aviation workshop out in the community. Here is a grand opportunity to speak out for a better airport system that does not reinforce Sea-Tac's present monopoly. The workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, October 20, at the Highline School District's board room, 15675 Ambaum Boulevard SW, Burien. PSRC is well aware that it needs to find a way to realize its own goal of a multiple airport system. Interested citizens can make a real difference by adding their support.

Passengers Planes for Paine Field

This issue is more than an exercise in planning. While Sea-Tac Airport likes to pretend that it is the only possible place for scheduled airline services, Paine Field (Snohomish County) and Boeing Field (King County) are available & suitable for regional passenger service. In August, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon approved a study group's recommendation that the County should pursue scheduled passenger service for Paine Field.

The County's Citizens Cabinet on Economic Development, in its final report issued last month recommended “Seek a way to start air service from Paine Field”. The report commented, “The infrastructure assets that comprise the airport itself, as well as the associated roads serving it, are not being used to their fullest extent. Paine Field could provide substantially more convenient air travel alternatives for Snohomish County businesses and citizens. The addition of passenger air service at Paine Field would add significant benefits to efforts to attract and retain hi-tech businesses.”

Historically, Paine Field has not been a passenger airport. According to Seattle Council on Airport Affairs Board members who have toured the facility & discussed its future with the Airport's director & deputy director, Paine Field would need a much-improved passenger terminal, as well as additional ground support facilities (like car rental agencies). No detailed cost estimates for these improvements have been released, but RCAA estimates the cost for an appropriate terminal at between $20 and $50 million.

… and Over at Boeing Field

Boeing Field (King County International Airport) has served as a passenger airport for decades. Its existing terminal is newly refurbished. There is has sufficient parking for air travellers adjacent to the terminal. The main runway, at 10,000 feet, is quite long enough for regional jets. Two small airlines (HeliJet and San Juan) currently operate out of the facility. Helijet serves various British Columbia locations. San Juan serves the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juans, & Sidney, B.C. The facilities for passenger service are in place, in use, & adequate for much greater use.

How About a New, Major Airport?

Paine Field and Boeing Field can, and likely will, pick up an increasing
share of the regional passenger traffic, as Sea-Tac's charges become increasingly burdensome. But in the long run, the region needs a second major airport, one that can handle the big four-engine transcontinental aircraft that carry passengers by the hundreds. Lankbanking the site now is the best strategy for the long-term. Locating suitable sites for such an airport (or perhaps two) will require a serious commitment from the State Legislature.

That search will require adequate funding. Once suitable sites have been
identified, the experts will need to evaluate them in depth. And once the
studies are complete, there must be serious funding for land purchases,
highway & rail access (FAA will not pay for those items), airport engineering, construction, terminals. PSRC started this work a decade ago but abandoned it in order to focus on the third runway. In our view, PSRC should re-start the work, perhaps under a contract with the State, and in co-operation with the State of Oregon and the Western Washington counties that are not part of PSRC. Eventually – why not now?

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