SEATTLE — The commission appointed by the state Legislature to study the options for siting a major new airport in Washington formally disbanded Friday as it submitted its final report without recommending a preferred location.
The commission’s goal was stymied by the public backlash last year to its shortlist of proposed new airport sites. Its final report delivered a stark conclusion: This state needs a new airport and likely won’t have one before 2050.
“Washington will only be able to meet future commercial aviation needs (passenger and cargo aviation) by developing a greenfield site,” the report states, referring to a location on undeveloped land. “This has yet to be found.”
A survey of the commission’s 16 members found that the majority believe “it will take until 2050 or beyond for a new primary commercial aviation facility to be complete and functional.”
Backlash stumps the commission
The Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, or CACC, created in 2019 to select a new airport site, drew up a shortlist last year of three rural locations in Pierce and Thurston counties for an airport larger than Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
But public opposition to all three sites from residents, elected officials and tribal leaders was vociferous and virtually unanimous.
In response, the Legislature in May passed a law winding down the commission and establishing in its place a new working group to study the state’s aviation capacity needs and produce annual reports on progress, but with no mandate to recommend specific locations and no deadline to make any decisions.
“The Legislature has all but ensured the sunset of the CACC without consideration of its work,” the final report states.
Barred from carrying out its mandate, at its final meeting June 9 the commission voted to use as its concluding report the results of a survey of its 16 members conducted in the spring.
One result of that survey was to dismiss an idea proposed in April that Yakima Air Terminal-McAllister Field should be the location for the new airport.
After the public outcry against the three proposed sites in Western Washington, officials at the Yakima airport indicated they wanted their location considered.
Most commissioners did not think that viable, given the difficulty of moving 55,000 passengers per day between the Puget Sound region and Yakima.
The survey also suggested that Paine Field airport in Everett will continue to add commercial passenger and cargo airline capacity, though not enough to meet the state’s aviation needs.
Confirming its growth plans, Paine Field on Tuesday announced it will change its name to “Seattle Paine Field International Airport.”
“The formal name change will strengthen the ability to market the location of the airport, while accurately showcasing the airport’s international reach,” management said in a news release.
However, most of the CACC members surveyed don’t believe such expansion of existing airports will be enough as air travel expands and Sea-Tac Airport grows more crowded.
Those needs “can only be met with a greenfield site that has yet to be identified,” the final report states.
Commission members noted that the scope of their work had been hindered from the panel’s inception by the Legislature’s bar on recommending any sites in King County or near military bases such as Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The report ends with a wistful statement, with perhaps a hint of passive aggression.
“The CACC wishes the new work group luck in their journey to solve the future of commercial aviation passenger and cargo capacity needs,” it concludes.
