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Browsing Tag: Commericial Flights

FAA Approves Commercial Service to Paine Field. But Will Airlines Come?

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Paine Field (KPAE) already had tons of large planes that are build and flown around the local area.

Paine Field (KPAE) already had tons of large planes that are built and flown around the local area.

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved commercial flights to operate from Paine Field (KPAE) in Everett, WA. Will that mean flights will actually start at the airport? Maybe not.

Paine Field is located about 30 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and is where Boeing builds all 747, 767, 777 and (most) 787 aircraft. Although Boeing dominates the airport, it is owned and operated by Snohomish County and is a public airport.

Allegiant Air raised the commercial service issue at KPAE a few years ago and it has been a struggle since. Initially, Alaska Airlines said it would be interested in operating out of KPAE, then withdrew interest. It has noted that they would start flights if one of their competitors would (ie Allegiant).

Even though this approval passed, do not expect flights to start anytime soon. There is not a passenger terminal and members of the community are expected to sue to stop commercial flights.

PAINE FIELD COMMERCIAL FIGHTS BACKGROUND STORIES:

When the news of the approval surfaced, I emailed to multiple airport/airline contacts to get thoughts and some quotes. The lack of comments surprised me (ones listed as “no comment” actually wrote back to state that they had nothing to say on the matter):

Boeing: “We have no position on it.”

Paine Field: No comment.

Future of Flight: No comment.

Snohomish County Tourism Bureau: No comment.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: No comment.

Museum of Flight (Restoration Center at Paine Field): No comment.

Flying Heritage Collection: “FHC is following this issue with interest and we look forward to hearing more as details emerge.”

King County International Airport / Boeing Field: “The decisions at Paine Field have no direct impact on KBFI.  As an open-access airport that receives Federal funds,  the FAA requires us to evaluate any proposals to do business at the airport without discrimination.  Currently, no commercial service companies have expressed an interest.”

Alaska Airlines: (they win for having the most to say) “Adding commercial air service to a regional airport located 42 miles away from the state’s largest airportand an hour’s drive from Bellingham International Airportis not a good alternative for our region. It would also require a multimillion-dollar investment to build a new terminal and other facilities to accommodate passenger service.” They continue with, “if a competitor begins commercial service at Paine Field, we would respond by adding flights using both a Bombardier Q400 turboprop and Boeing 737 jet.” (Read Alaska’s full statement here)

Kenmore Air: “At this time, we don’t see PAE fitting into our current or envisioned route structure. But we’ll definitely be watching developments there with interest.”

Allegiant Air: “The report on Paine Field certainly opens the airport up as a possible opportunity for Allegiant. We are constantly evaluating new cities and new routes that may be a successful addition to our current network. We will keep Paine Field on our radar, but there are no immediate plans for service there.”

The lack of comments, especially from those who are closely related to Paine Field, lead me to  think there is much more going on behind the scenes. I can see why Boeing wouldn’t want commercial service traffic in its production airfield, but the commercial service would bring more money to the airport and area businesses. My guess: Politics.

Paine Field Aviation Day 2012. Could events like this be eliminated with commercial flights commencing?

Paine Field Aviation Day 2012 at KPAE. Could events like this be reduced with commercial flights commencing?

Surrounding KPAE are quite a few affluent homes that overlook the water. I am sure that many of those folks do not want the values of their homes to decrease with the initiation of passenger service.

Personally, I have a hard time with stifling community growth. Residences purchased homes knowing that Paine Field existed and could expand. My own home is in the flight path of Paine Field and, even as an AvGeek who would love seeing more planes flying over, having my value decrease obviously doesn’t excite me. However, it’s important to look at the greater good of the community and region at large. Improving the local economy with the job growth a passenger service would provide, in exchange for a few loud MD-80 flyovers, would be a positive trade. I am okay with that. Obviously, most in the area of the airport do not share my sentiment.

Expanding commercial service to the region would mean badly needed economic recovery for many in the area; but many government institutions and politicians are either staying silent or are opposed the additional service. Why? Most likely: Re-Election.

The airport can surely handle the additional traffic. According to the Seattle Times: “The FAA spent three years responding to public comments and studying the impact of 8,340 additional flight operations a year at the airport over five years. The airport is operating now at about a third of its capacity of 350,000 operations a year.”

One of a few politicians who have come out in favor of commercial flights is Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson. ’œThe City of Everett has been on record supporting commercial air at Paine Field for many years now,’ Stephanson said according to KING5. ’œCommercial air is necessary for economic development and job growth.  Hopefully we’ll soon be working with a company to provide commercial air at Paine Field.’

Snohomish County has already stated that it has a plan for a two-gate terminal, but it does not plan to spend any of its own money. With there being no terminal, looming litigation, and the fact that no airline is stating it will start commercial service… it is still going to be a few years before you can start flying out of Paine Field on an airline.

Other than Allegiant, I could easily see Spirit Airlines interested in starting operations in the Pacific Northwest. Frontier, who flies seasonally out of Bellingham, might be interested as well. It would be quite interesting to see an airline fly an Airbus product through the airport where the majority of Boeing wide-bodied aircraft are built. Hopefully someday.

 

This story written by… David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder. David starting AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.@AirlineReporter | Flickr | YouTube