TagSecond Airport(63)

A draft working document prepared by the Commercial Aviation Work Group presents an unconstrained air travel demand forecast for Washington State's 17 busiest commercial airports, with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) leading at approximately 26.3 million enplanements in 2025 out of a statewide total of nearly 29.8 million. The report, dated April 28, 2026, covers market analysis and air traffic forecasts across airports ranging from large hubs like Sea-Tac and Spokane International to smaller facilities such as Renton Municipal and Roche Harbor. The forecast is described as 'unconstrained,' meaning it projects potential demand without accounting for limitations in airport capacity or infrastructure.

This draft working document outlines the workplan for the first half of 2026 for the Commercial Aviation Work Group, presented at a meeting in Moses Lake, Washington on April 28, 2026. The group's mission is to evaluate the long-range commercial aviation and transportation needs of Washington State, exploring options such as expanding existing airports and multi-modal solutions rather than building a new airport. The document also includes a recap of the February meeting and references the group's broader goal of recommending practical solutions to meet regional travel demand.

This draft report, prepared by the Commercial Aviation Work Group and consulting firm Steer, presents an unconstrained air travel demand forecast for Washington State's 17 busiest commercial airports, with Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) accounting for the vast majority of the state's approximately 29.8 million enplaned passengers in 2025. The forecast combines a short-term bottom-up model based on airline schedules with a long-term top-down model driven by macroeconomic factors such as GDP, population, and airfares, ultimately producing airport-level traffic projections. While focused on statewide aviation demand planning, the findings have direct relevance to Sea-Tac noise policy discussions given SEA's dominant share of regional air traffic.

Meeting agenda for the Commercial Aviation Work Group covering consultant introductions, strategic work plan discussions, review of ESSB 5161, and research needs including Advanced Air Mobility, Sea-Tac capacity, and aerospace employment trends. The meeting includes a tour of Boeing Field for CAWG members.

The Commercial Aviation Work Group’s 2025 annual report to the Washington Legislature detailing four meetings held in 2025, membership status, and interim recommendations. The group strongly recommends that the Legislature encourage Sound Transit to locate a Link station near the Paine Field passenger terminal to maximize public investments and minimize climate impacts.

A community advocate near Sea-Tac Airport seeks advice on explaining why building a second regional airport will not reduce flights or noise for local residents, since aviation planners project Sea-Tac will continue operating at full capacity regardless of any new airport. The document confirms this through PSRC and FAA forecasts, and offers practical scripts and analogies to help advocates communicate the difference between regional capacity growth and actual neighborhood relief. It also outlines strategies that can genuinely help affected residents, such as pushing for quieter flight procedures, noise monitoring, and mitigation programs.