Paine Field in Everett could end region's air-traffic pain

By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES The new 180-foot control tower in the Snohomish County Airport Air Traffic Control Center at Paine Field is 13-stories high and replaces the old 90-foot tower. There's better airfield and taxiway visibility from the new tower, which was dedicated on Oct. 31, 2003.

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Instead, it decided to use bigger planes and keep its base at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

"I think Horizon made the right move," said Bill Dolan, Paine Field's deputy airport director. "Why duplicate the cost of another station at Paine?"

For years, however, that issue has percolated through the debate about building a third runway at Sea-Tac. Why not add commercial service in growing Snohomish County, rather than create more traffic congestion and environmental issues at Sea-Tac, asks the Airport Communities Coalition, which has been fighting construction of a third runway there.

"We believe another airport is the best thing for the Puget Sound region," coalition member Stuart Creighton said. "And Paine is at the top of the list because it has everything necessary today to start landing planes."

Except, of course, any airplanes. Or a terminal.

And with construction already started on the third runway, chances of Paine Field replacing it seem remote.

But the possibility that Paine Field could become a Sea-Tac North gained steam this year when the Snohomish County Council hired Mead & Hunt of Eugene, Ore., to study the market for commercial flights at the Everett field. The report, the first in 25 years, could be out within a month.

Super expectations

Paine Field was built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project. The airport was expected to spur jobs and become one of the nation's 10 new superairports.

That never happened. It was taken over by the military during World War II and returned to the county in 1948. It returned to military control during the Korean War, and later Boeing built its assembly plant just north of it.

Paine has no commercial service now, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s Alaska Airlines flew out of Paine Field, and San Juan Airlines ran flights to Portland and Vancouver, B.C., in 1988 and 1989.

Twenty-five years ago, the community and the county negotiated a deal that determined what role Paine Field could play in commercial aviation. It said the field should encourage commuter flights but nothing larger.

"We don't see the need for the study," said Jim Sheldon, president of Save Our Communities, a group that formed when Paine Field first was mentioned as an alternative to a third runway at Sea-Tac. "We want to live by the [deal]. We just don't want to see anything larger than commuter aircraft."

That means planes carrying 30 passengers or less, he said.

"I think a market study is a waste of money," he said.

Dolan, the airport deputy director, said the council and Snohomish County executive are committed to the deal they've lived with for 25 years, but they want the market study to see if there's potential for Paine Field to play a larger role in the region's air service.

"It's very premature to say the fact the council asked for a study gives any indication they are leaning in any direction of encouraging service," Dolan said.

He said exploring regional air service at Paine Field is one of several things the county is looking at to stimulate the Snohomish County economy.

Dolan said a survey also is being circulated to about 5,000 people in the business community through the local Chamber of Commerce, asking whether they have problems using Sea-Tac.

"This is not an option to the third runway," Dolan said. "The airlines decide where they fly, and the airlines have not chosen to start service at Paine Field."

But, he added, Sea-Tac is getting more expensive for the airlines.

Today, Dolan said, about 600 private planes land at Paine Field each day on a 9,000-foot runway that is long enough to accommodate a Boeing 747. The airport has a new control tower but no terminal, other than a small building with six seats. And hotel developers are negotiating terms of a lease with Paine Field officials for construction of a 100- to 125-room Hilton Garden Inn on airport property.

"The County Council keeps saying, 'We hear the market's changed and there's a need for this service,' " Dolan said. "So let's get some real answers so we're not dealing with anecdotal stuff. Let's see if there's a market for Paine."

Uneasy feelings

Sheldon, with the opposition group, said the use of Paine Field is not supported by airline economics.

"Why would an airline operate out of Paine Field, in addition to Sea-Tac, if they're competing against themselves?" he asked.

Creighton, with the Airport Communities Coalition, knows how neighbors react to the suggestion of an airport runway in their back yards.

"Nobody wants one," he said. "No matter how difficult it is to get to Sea-Tac, they think it would be harmful to their communities. We argue we're already being harmed. Why hurt us more?"

Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau reporter Jane Hodges contributed to this report. Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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