Published October 2004

Focus sharpens on local
air-carrier service
Citizens Cabinet report, demographic study
point to Paine Field

Photo courtesy of Bombardier Aerospace This Bombardier CRJ200 is one of the world’s most popular regional jetliners, quiet jets used for secondary airports in place of larger and louder jets and slower turboprops on many of the world’s short-range passenger routes. It’s typical of the type of aircraft that might be an option for Paine Field air-carrier use if scheduled air traffic is developed there.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

A Citizens Cabinet on Economic Development formed by Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has focused new attention on the need for scheduled air-carrier service at the Snohomish County Airport.

“Paine Field is a very significant economic asset today and for the future,” according to the cabinet report, published in August. “The infrastructure assets that comprise the airport itself, as well as the associated roads serving it, are not being used to their fullest extent. Paine Field could provide substantially more convenient air travel for Snohomish County businesses and citizens. The addition of passenger air service … would add significant benefits to efforts to attract and retain high-tech businesses,” according to the group’s conclusions.

Overall, the report, “A Blueprint for Economic Growth in Snohomish County,” examined a variety of needs, from roads and highways to regulatory reform, taxes and education, but the call for developing air service at the Snohomish County Airport could be one of the most far-reaching proposals.

The 19-member group, co-chaired by Everett resident and Washington State University regent Connie Niva and Michael Martino, president and chief executive of Sonus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Bothell, was appointed by Reardon in February.

Air service at the field would attract more economic development, according to the report, as well as provide more convenience for business travelers and residents who now face lengthy trips to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in traffic congestion that often turns to gridlock.

For many years, the airport’s nearby residents’ protests of potential noise from any expansion of airport services have kept political and business elements at bay. Now, however, there is once again a strong move to attract air service as an economic development asset.

“Many things have changed since the inception of county policy statements regarding the role of Paine Field (years ago), not the least of which are significant changes in the technology and associated impacts of aircraft engines,” according to the cabinet. “As a result, the noise levels at the airport are significantly less today than over previous decades, including when the airport’s role was defined.”

Also, Paine Field already has jet airliner traffic regularly that is louder than the planes that are likely to be used for any air passenger operations at the airport.

“We had 213,000 (landing or take-off) flight operations in 2000, and 3,443 of those were large transports,” said Airport Director Dave Waggoner, referring to test flights from the Boeing 747, 767, 777 production plant at the airport and airliners visiting Goodrich’s large maintenance and retrofitting facility. “Even those planes are quieter than older airliners, some business jets and even some Cessna models that stay in the airspace longer after take-off.”

In addition to the Boeing and Goodrich airliner traffic, Paine Field normally logs around 250,000 flights a year by general aviation aircraft.

Waggoner said the evolution of Boeing’s 737, the most popular passenger plane ever produced by the company, illustrates those changes in technology and noise reduction. When the 737-100 was introduced in 1967, its JT8D-9 engines produced 75-decibel levels — enough to disrupt normal conversation indoors — with a noise contour on take-off that reached out 12 miles along the plane’s path.

Today, a 737-700’s CFM5607B engines, introduced in 1997, create a noise contour of 75-decibels that extends only 3.5 miles. Since then, even quieter planes have been produced.

“I can tell you that the regional airline industry is very healthy right now, doing much better than the major carriers,” Waggoner said. “They’re providing a service that people want in planes, even small jets, that offer many of the amenities of a 737 but have only half the capacity, which makes it easier for the airlines to get a high load factor. The regional jets are much quieter than even the 737s.”

“I haven’t talked to anybody who’s surprised by the cabinet’s recommendation,” he said. “I think their study confirmed what people feel is the situation here, looking at a statistical summary of what’s happening here (in economic growth). Our next step will be to do a study of what the cost would be for an air passenger terminal, security, parking and such. It’s a matter of is there a market, from the airline point of view, and from the county’s view, what is the cost,” Waggoner said.

Earlier this year, both former airport Commissioner Hank Robinett and former airport Manager George Petrie urged bringing air service to Paine Field.

“It’s time to quit putting it off. Aviation is a big part of any business coming to town. It’s vitally important to the economic future of our county. We need it,” Robinett said. Petrie noted that “during the Alaska oil pipeline construction in the 1970s the airport had a flourishing nonscheduled air freight operation, with few noise complaints. … I’ve always thought Paine Field could serve the Puget Sound area in the same way San Jose and Oakland (airports) serve the Bay Area.”

Those same views were echoed in a recent newspaper column by Tom Hoban, chief executive of Coast Real Estate Services of Everett, who wrote, “There are businesses that choose not to locate in Snohomish County because we don’t have good passenger and … cargo air service.”

Jim Wilkinson, president of Flightline Services at Paine Field, said earlier this year that “not every airline is tied economically to Sea-Tac’s hub or wants to pay the high cost of operating out of there. … If the business community demands this kind of service, you might be surprised at the amount of public and private support you would get.”

Another development that has drawn recent attention to the question of providing air service at Paine Field is the August publishing of a demographic and public opinion study conducted by Mead & Hunt of Eugene, Ore.

The survey was a priority of a 2002 Economic Stimulus Task Force report produced for the Snohomish County Council and former county Executive Bob Drewel. The survey showed evidence of sufficient market demand to support regional jet service from Paine Field to West Coast ports, including San Francisco. Focusing on local areas, including Snohomish and Island counties, southwest Skagit County and north King County, where residents would be likely to take a Paine Field flight to their destinations, the consultants reviewed 12 months of airline ticket sales by travel agents prior to February 2004.

After analyzing the flight destinations, the consultants suggested Paine Field could economically provide nonstop air travel on regional jets to San Francisco and Phoenix and turboprop flights to Portland, Ore., and Spokane. Today’s “regional” jet airliners usually carry 50 to 75 passengers, replacing older and slower turboprop airliners on such routes.

The study results also indicated there might be enough demand to offer flights to Denver or Salt Lake City. In particular, the study found flights from Paine Field to Hawaii might be justified and suggested a review of a proposal once made by Aloha Airlines for 737 flights from both Spokane and Paine Field.

“The market for commercial air service at Paine Field was not viable 25 to 30 years ago,” the consultant’s report concluded, “but the economic and population explosion in more recent years has made this market more robust.”

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