Public to weigh in on commercial flights at Paine Field

Tonight the Federal Aviation Administration will take public testimony on a seemingly modest proposal: to introduce about 8,000 commercial flights per year at Snohomish County's Paine Field — an airport that currently logs 144,000 annual flights by Boeing and its suppliers, private aircraft and aviation-support services.

But residents of the surrounding suburbs fear that allowing even a small number of commercial flights will open the door to round-the-clock air traffic that will destroy their quality of life. And they say the draft environmental assessment on the proposal downplays future impacts.

"Our fear is they could go to hundreds of new flights day or night," said Greg Hauth, vice president of Save Our Communities, a Mukilteo-based group that opposes commercial flights.

The draft environmental assessment released last month concludes that there won't be a significant increase in noise levels, traffic or air quality from proposals by Horizon and Allegiant Air to introduce 44 new flights per week and increase that to 70 per week over five years.

The assessment concludes that even without the introduction of commercial air service, annual flights will increase to 162,418 by 2016 as Boeing gears up production and testing of the new 787. If the company wins a tanker contract for new 767s, it could increase air traffic at Paine Field even more, said Peter Camp, Snohomish County executive director, who oversees airport activities.

The FAA initially had planned only two public hearings on the proposals to add commercial service but added a third to take place later this month at the request of Edmonds and Mukilteo officials who said the proximity of the first hearings to the holidays and a lack of publicity could limit testimony.

"Our feeling was they weren't giving the public enough notice to comment either way, pro or con," said Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson.

The FAA also extended the comment period on the draft environmental assessment for an additional month, through Feb. 5.

A fair fight?

Added opportunities to comment are doing little to ease the fears of opponents who argue that the approval process is stacked against local communities. Federal law does not allow the county to prohibit commercial air service or even to specify the types of planes or hours of operation, Camp said.

Refusing to allow commercial flights also could jeopardize future federal grants for airport improvements. Since 1945, those grants have totaled $84 million, said Dave Waggoner, airport director.

Additionally, as Des Moines and Federal Way learned when they tried to fight a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in the 1990s, the state's Growth Management Act prohibits local jurisdictions from refusing to site or expand essential regional facilities such as airports, a Washington appellate court ruled in 1999.

Opponents say that the draft environmental assessment analyzes the impacts of only the first few years of flights proposed by the airlines and does not project further into the future or take into account the extent to which the number of flights have increased at other regional airports where commercial traffic has begun.

Horizon has asked to operate four flights a day to Portland and two a day to Spokane, using 75-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop airplanes. Allegiant has requested twice-a-week flights to Las Vegas using 150-seat MD-83 jet aircraft.

"As soon as they get started, there's nothing to stop them from adding as many flights as they want," said Save Our Communities' Hauth.

Matt Paskus has the same complaint. He lives in the flight path of Bellingham's airport. He said Allegiant Air "jumped from four to 32 flights a week in a very short time." Paskus is also critical of the FAA's environmental assessments because they look only at the impacts of takeoffs and landings on the area surrounding the airport and not at increased air traffic over the region.

He recalled twice being on hikes to scenic and remote areas in the Northwest recently and hearing airplane noise.

"I'm concerned that as small regional airports grow, the environmental consequences will also grow," Paskus said.

Cities split on plan

Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mukilteo and Mountlake Terrace all have passed resolutions opposing commercial air service at Paine Field. Randy Lord, president of the Mukilteo City Council, said expansion of Sound Transit's light-rail service could make travel to Sea-Tac faster and eliminate the need for commercial air service at smaller, regional airports.

"I'd rather invest the money to bring light rail to Snohomish County than destroy the quality of life of a large area," Lord said.

Other cities in the county, whose residents face long drives to existing airports, support commercial flights at Paine Field. Everett released a study in July 2008 saying the city could attract more and larger high-tech businesses if commercial air service were more convenient. The study also said that regularly scheduled passenger flights could stimulate tourism and other economic development in the region.

Mark Olson, an outgoing Everett city councilman, said his son, a Marine, flew home for Christmas out of the regional airport at Palm Springs, Calif. He said the round-trip ticket on Allegiant cost $110 and parking was easier and less expensive than at Sea-Tac or Los Angeles International Airport.

"There are a lot of good reasons to go ahead with commercial service," Olson said.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com

An earlier version of this story, published Sunday, January 3, 2010 was corrected Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The last meeting will be held Kamiak High School, 10801 Harbour Pointe Blvd, Mukilteo rather than at the Lynnwood Convention Center.