Lance Dickie / Seattle Times editorial columnist
Airing out the potential of passengers at Paine

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

He wants the state to help pay for a study of commercial passenger air service at Paine Field, the Snohomish County airport. He put a bill in a week ago, but has already taken so much grief he offered a revised version Wednesday.

Schmidt's fundamental mistake was catching people off guard. No one wants to be surprised by such a volatile topic. Adding regular passenger service to Paine Field has been fought over and defeated in various forms for decades.

He also drew attention to something already under way. Oops.

The Snohomish County Council, airport administrators and the board of the local Economic Development Council had reached a quiet understanding it was time for another look at an obstacle to economic recruitment. The county drafted a request for consulting services to evaluate market conditions for scheduled air service at Paine Field.

This is a conversation that will not go away. If Snohomish County wants to live up to its own expectations, air service has to improve.

Is this about planes to Chicago or Stuttgart? No. Think San Juan Islands, Spokane and Portland, or maybe Las Vegas, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Potential customers north of 145th Street and Lake City Way hold the power.

Schmidt's massaged legislation, Senate Bill 6653, would route $100,000 through the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development toward either the county or Economic Development Council. He envisions construction of a $20 million terminal to attract an airline tenant.

The reaction has been intense.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said he does not support a proposal he describes as premature and presumptuous. He is upset Schmidt jumped so far ahead of any public process.

Add the name of Don Doran to the list of those stunned and disappointed by this flurry of interest in Paine Field. The honorable Mr. Doran is mayor of Mukilteo, and a veteran of past fights. He is not amused that a string of county agreements and zone changes might be blithely ignored.

Call Paine Field an attractive nuisance, with a runway in the midst of growth and opportunity that can handle any plane.

The former Air Force base is busy with 200,000 operations a year, the vast majority by general aviation and corporate aircraft. Boeing and BFGoodrich Aerospace, the repair giant, move big planes in and out of Paine Field, but they represent a relative handful of flights.

The recent successful bid to assemble the new 7E7 is expected to attract more suppliers around Boeing and the airport. A 61,000-square-foot National Flight Interpretive Center is coming with a museum, conference facility and Boeing Tour Center.

Airport management is talking with Hilton Garden Inn about building a 100-to-125-room hotel.

Schmidt wants a feasibility study that looks at a much bigger picture: an airport and terminal to match a market of 1.2 million people from Shoreline to Kirkland and north to Blaine who can't reach Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with any confidence for a morning flight.

In the wake of 9-11, the senator sees a struggling airline industry shifting to more regional point-to-point service on planes the size of Boeing's 737.

He is ebullient about the opportunities from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., NASCAR inquiries into a speedway and arena near Marysville-Arlington, the Tulalips' pursuit of a destination resort, and the possibility of mini-cruise ships visiting a new Everett pier.

Whether it is Boeing's commitment to Puget Sound or a wishful tally of tourism potential, they all fuel interest in air service, especially with new, quieter planes.

One certifiable fact is the drive south to Sea-Tac Airport is loathed, and will only get worse. Seemingly endless construction at Sea-Tac, the new reality of security hassles and wretched traffic on Interstate 5 south all stir interest in Paine Field.

Here is the rub. No airline can be compelled to go north. Besides, two earlier attempts at air service failed, the last in 1999. New market figures and operating costs would have to be compelling to lure the first carrier to Paine Field.

Lastly, a paper trail exists to encourage small air taxi and commuter operations, and discourage — but not preclude — regional air service. The Paine Field Mediated Role Determination is 26-year-old verbiage as dense and serious as its title. Key points were reinforced by the county as recently as 2001.

In 1992, Bob Wallace, a Bellevue businessman and civic workhorse, led Puget Sound through a tumultuous examination of air service, leading up to the decision to build a third runway at Sea-Tac.

Back then and recently again, Wallace described expanded air service at Paine Field as inevitable. He is, of course, quite right.

Lance Dickie's e-mail address is ldickie@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company