"Paine Field boosters press on for airlines"

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Paine Field boosters press on for airlines For now, Seattle's Boeing Field
leads the race for passenger jets By Jeff Switzer and Lukas Velush The
Everett (WA) Daily Herald


Snohomish County is not aced out of the race for regional jet service.

The race might just be getting started.

Even as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport builds its third runway, and
Southwest Airlines ponders moving to King County's Boeing Field, supporters
say Paine Field remains a candidate for passenger air travel service.

When and whether flights start coming to Snohomish County's airport is the
big question.

Some say the time is between three years and never.

There are enough differences and distance between the three major Puget
Sound airports that there might be room for all three to grow, with each
offering its own level of passenger service.

Despite vehement opposition from some in the community, others see it as
inevitable that Paine Field will see an increase in commercial flights.

Snohomish County is booming, and a population equal to three times Everett's
current population of 91,000 is expected in the next 20 years.

The millions of people living in the Puget Sound region - and more to come -
will drive that market. Los Angeles County in California, for example,
supports several regional airports.

The airlines will make their own decisions about whether commercial service
makes sense for Snohomish County, making Paine Field more of a player in
Puget Sound.

For the moment, nobody is knocking on Paine Field's door.

That doesn't discourage boosters.

"It's the finest facility in the U.S., with modern runways, a brand new
tower, everything that's needed for an airfield, a 9,000-foot runway," said
Hank Robinett, an Everett housing developer, former airport commissioner and
arguably the loudest and longest-standing supporter of more commercial
flights at Paine Field.

"We're talking about a billion dollar piece of real estate that's
underutilized. The only thing missing is a passenger terminal."

A bare-bones terminal that could handle two 70-seat jets is estimated to
cost $3.2 million, airport officials said last week.

A market study paid for by the county in 2004 suggested the airport could
support regional air service, adding that Paine Field could capture up to 30
percent of the 7,000 Snohomish County residents who fly out of Sea-Tac every
day.

How many of those 7,000 people would fly out of Snohomish County depends
heavily on how many departures and destinations Paine Field offers, the
report said.

Until then, Paine Field remains a hub for Boeing, the aerospace industry and
general aviation.

In one corner: Boeing

No one disputes that Sea-Tac is the king airport in Puget Sound. If a major
carrier such as Southwest ever leaves Sea-Tac, it would be to Boeing Field.

Paine Field doesn't have a seat at that table.

Boeing Field has two key things going for it: Population and location. It's
near Seattle and suburban King County and that county's passengers and
tourism centers. It's also the state's core of jobs and business.

But Boeing Field airport is small, said Harold Taniguchi, King County's
transportation director who oversees Boeing Field, also called King County
International Airport. At 614 acres, it's less than half the size of Paine
Field's 1,300 acres.

"It's highly unlikely we will have multiple airlines flying out of King
County International Airport," Taniguchi said. "We're simply constrained by
space."

The hangars are full, and Boeing Field thrives as a general aviation
airport, he said.
 
Taniguchi says King County's talks with Southwest are continuing.

Too far from Seattle

Any hope for immediate flights at Paine Field would have to lure them from
Sea-Tac, or rely on spillover from growth in the airline industry.

The likely candidates say they're happy staying put.

While Boeing Field's cheaper fees and proximity to Seattle has caught
Southwest Airlines attention, Paine Field has not.

"We've evaluated all of our options. Boeing Field is closer to the city of
Seattle, and close-in airports fit our business model better," said Marilee
McInnis, a Southwest spokeswoman.

Boeing Field is about 4 1/2 miles from downtown Seattle. Paine Field is
about 20 miles.

However, there's no reason Snohomish County can't snag a few Southwest
flights or a couple from Alaska Airlines and handful of flights from
regional airlines such as Horizon and Sky West, said state Sen. Dave
Schmidt, a leading advocate for bringing commercial airlines to Paine Field.

"We're not asking them to move their whole lock-stock operations," said
Schmidt, R-Mill Creek.

If not Southwest, then perhaps another airline will be willing to run a few
flights out of Paine Field, Schmidt said. Airlines are gun-shy about moving
into a new area because the industry has been so up and down since September
2001, but he said that could change pretty quickly.

"Once it starts to be beneficial for one, then two or three will follow," he
said. "They're not going to lose their competitive advantage."

Schmidt said there's a population of would-be passengers eager to avoid
having to drive to Sea-Tac and then wait for hours before getting to fly.

"It saves money, time and convenience," said Schmidt, who used himself as an
example.

He estimates that it now takes him five hours to fly to San Jose, Calif.:
That's an hour to get to Sea-Tac, the recommended two hours of wading
through security, and then nearly two hours of actual flying.

He said he could shave two hours off that time flying out of Paine Field.
That lost time is money, he said.

Snohomish County's market study suggests that airlines including America
West, United and Delta that have hubs in the west, and limited flights out
of Sea-Tac, might relocate some of their flights to Paine Field to funnel
passengers to their hubs.

"We're perfectly happy at Sea-Tac," said Phil Gee, a spokesman for America
West, which has hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas. "We have no plans of looking
to move."

Regional flights

While the big-dog airlines say they aren't coming to Snohomish County, most
say it's more likely that the airport will woo regional jets of the 38- to
100-seat variety.

Some airlines have tried Paine Field already. San Juan Airlines offered
flights to Portland for about a year starting in 1987. Others, in
particular, regional airline Horizon Air, have flirted with Paine Field for
more than a decade.

"Currently Horizon Air is not pursuing operating out of Paine Field," said
Jen McSkimming, a Horizon spokeswoman. "That doesn't mean we'll never be
there, but right now we're not looking into providing service at Paine
Field."

For Paine Field to become viable the number of would-be passengers needs to
climb and become more consistent, she said. Horizon needs to be able to buy
more jets too.

It also needs a terminal, and somebody to pay for and build it.

The county's market study says there's demand for regional flights - to
nearby places such as Portland and Spokane - and nonstop flights to Las
Vegas, California, Hawaii and elsewhere. The passengers would include
Snohomish County residents and people living between Bellevue and the San
Juan Islands, according to the study.

That service would elevate Snohomish County's role in the region.

"Aviation is the key to the future of any metropolitan area," Robinett said.
"I don't mean we'll be Sea-Tac North, and we never will be, but it could be
a good place for point-to-point service, like to California and Hawaii."

Nonstop flights - called point-to-point, flying directly to destination
cities - will draw on future generations of Boeing jets, Robinett said.

"The future in aviation is going to be point-to-point, and that opens up
more opportunities for smaller airports like Paine Field or Boeing Field,"
County Councilman Jeff Sax said.

"In my heart of hearts, I'm 100 percent sure Paine Field is going to be an
airport that is providing point-to-point service in the future.

"The economics of the air traveling public are going to determine which kind
of plane flies in and out of Paine Field. We can't restrict what size plane
flies in and out of Paine Field."

The critics of commercial air service worry that the county won't let the
market dictate a decision.

"My greatest concern is that Snohomish County is going to subsidize the
operation at Paine Field to induce air carriers into Paine Field," Mukilteo
Mayor Don Doran said.

The studies that the county continues to spend money on have put the county
on path toward wooing an airline to Paine Field, by paying to build a
terminal for them or by providing some other incentive, Doran said.

No promise at Boeing

In Greg Hauth's mind, it's easy to compare Paine and Boeing fields.

"King County didn't make a promise for 27 years to not develop Boeing Field
as a commercial airport," said Hauth, president of Save Our Communities, a
Mukilteo-based group that has fought commercial airline service at Paine
Field since 1992.

Hauth said people have built homes and businesses around the airport with
the promise that the county wouldn't pursue commercial flights at Paine
Field.

In 1978, the county leadership approved a measure that encouraged air taxi
and commuter service but strongly discouraged expanding supplemental and
charter air passenger service.

And while critics are hanging their hats on that language, airport expansion
supporters say the document - called the Mediated Role Determination - is
too vague and too old to hold sway today.

"It was nothing more than a resolution by a county commission that doesn't
exist anymore," Schmidt said.

Airplane noise technology has improved so much in three decades that
residents who live around the airport won't even notice if there are 20 to
25 more jets flying out of Paine Field each day, Schmidt said.

County Executive Aaron Reardon in May said he would forge a panel to
evaluate the 1978 agreement, acknowledging the debate over what history says
should occur at the airport.

The panel, which is still taking shape, will evaluate how noise might affect
nearby property values and what economic good might come from airline
service.

To lead the panel, Reardon said he appointed Doran, and Everett Mayor Ray
Stephanson, who has said airport expansion may be warranted.

Doran said he has yet to be contacted by Reardon about sitting on the panel.
Stephanson said he was contacted initially.

Although the community can discourage commercial service, FAA rules say
local jurisdictions cannot ban commercial flights.

What's next?

Most area politicians aren't openly advocating for passenger flights at
Paine Field. They're caught between residents fearing noise and traffic
impacts on one side, and businesses pushing for a stronger economy on the
other.

In the past, Reardon said he has opposed airport expansion as a legislator,
and in his 2003 campaign for executive.

This week, Reardon called the issue a "tempest in a teapot."

"In terms of all the issues regarding the economy in the region, it's a
very, very small issue, and more is being made of it than there actually
is."

Despite a market study that says there is demand for flights from Snohomish
County, Reardon said: "I have yet to see any market numbers that support air
travel in Snohomish County."

Instead, Reardon is pushing for more jobs and aerospace technology
industries on the county's Paine Field property.

Although Paine Field Director Dave Waggoner and other Snohomish County
officials have taken neutral positions on bringing commercial air service to
Paine Field, Waggoner has been meeting with city councils, Rotary clubs and
other community groups for six months.

Waggoner described the meetings as informational only, and are at the behest
of county leaders who in 2002 directed him to explore whether there is a
market for commercial flights, and what it would take to build a terminal.

Waggoner's final presentations are July 11, 12 and 13, said Mark Funk,
Reardon's spokesman.

After that, "there are not going to be anymore presentations, and he will
prepare a summary and present what he has learned to the County Council
later in the year," Funk said.

Doran said claims of neutrality by Reardon and Waggoner ring hollow.

"I would say their actions are clearly speaking much louder than their
words," Doran said. "It sure seems they are spending a lot of money and a
lot of effort toward expanding the role at Paine Field."

Paine Field's past, present and future

Paine Field was meant to be a boost to the economy, built in 1936 as part of
a New Deal plan to create 10 "super airports" around the country.

The super airport never opened, and instead the Army Air Corps and Air Force
moved in.

In 1941, the airport was named for Topliff Olin Paine, a nationally
recognized Air Mail Service pilot who grew up in Everett.

In 1966, Boeing replaced the Air Force as the major tenant of Paine Field,
and the company came north to build its giant 747 factory.

In the 1970s, Snohomish County began studying long-term uses of Paine Field
that resulted in 1978 in a series of documents referred to as the Mediated
Role Determination.

The plans called for developing the airport as a general aviation facility
for light aircraft while discouraging air cargo and passenger service.

In 1979, county commissioners adopted amendments developed by a panel of
government agencies, citizens and airport users. Those documents
specifically allow "commuter service" at the airport.

"Airport staff have generally assumed the intent of the documents to include
scheduled air service by most large aircraft as a discouraged activity,"
according to Paine Field's Web site.

However, the county doesn't have the last word. When the federal government
gave the airport back to the county in the 1960s, one of the conditions was
that it be maintained it as an aviation facility.

Flights at Paine Field peaked at 225,000 a year in the late 1970s. It saw
215,000 flights in 2000, and annual flights have dropped since. By 2004, the
number dropped to its lowest level since 1982, with 128,000 takeoffs and
landings.

The Federal Aviation Administration opened a new $8 million control tower in
2003.

Another major project is the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing
Tour.

The proposed facility will house the Boeing Tour Center, an aviation gallery
and conference center. The 73,068 square foot county-owned facility will
cost approximately $22 million and open this fall. Plans include an adjacent
100-room Hilton Garden Inn, which is also under construction and expected to
open this fall.

Source: Paine Field and Herald archives Online: www.painefield.com

Boeing Field was primary airport before Sea-Tac

In 1928, King County voters approved a $950,000 plan for construction of the
region's first municipal airport.

Originally named in honor of Boeing Company founder William Boeing, the
airport supported the early growth of the Boeing Company and served as a
regional center for the burgeoning commercial and recreational aviation
industries.

The airport was taken over by the federal government the day before the
attack on Pearl Harbor.

Its location was strategically important, both geographically and to Boeing
production. During World War II, the airport was devoted to producing
thousands of B-17 and B-29 bombers.

After the war, Boeing Field reopened for civilian use and it served as the
area's primary passenger airport until the development of Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Attached Photo/Graphic:

A passenger jet is parked at one of the Goodrich hangars at Paine Field.
Most planes using the airport are smaller aircraft used by individuals or
flight schools.

Paine Field.

PaineField5_500.jpg

PAINEFIELD.jpg