Spokane

2026-04-28
Washington State Unconstrained Forecast: Draft Presentation

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.

TagsCommercial Aviation Work Group, Forecast, Second Airport, Spokane, State of WashingtonFolderCAWG

Upcoming Events

Part 150 NCP Workshop — Burien
Add to CalendarMSaturday Oct 17: 10:00am

Attend a Port of Seattle open house on the Part 150 Study Noise Compatibility Program (NCP). The Part 150 program determines the noise boundary around the airport and opportunities for noise mitigation such as sound insulation.
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Part 150 NCP Workshop — SeaTac
Add to CalendarMMonday Oct 19: 6:00pm

Attend a Port of Seattle open house on the Part 150 Study Noise Compatibility Program (NCP). The Part 150 program determines the noise boundary around the airport and opportunities for noise mitigation such as sound insulation.
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Part 150 NCP Workshop — Des Moines
Add to CalendarMTuesday Oct 20: 6:00pm

Attend a Port of Seattle open house on the Part 150 Study Noise Compatibility Program (NCP). The Part 150 program determines the noise boundary around the airport and opportunities for noise mitigation such as sound insulation.
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As the source for federal transportation grants, the Puget Sound Regional Council was charged with developing a system to meet the growing need for commercial aviation. When the search for a second airport failed, they authorized the Port of Seattle to build the Third Runway, with a mandate to develop a noise abatement and mitigation program. In their effort to stop the Third Runway, the ACC argued over every detail of the Port's efforts--including property buyouts and sound insulation. The dispute was meant to be settled by a three member Expert Arbitration Panel. This is their final report. It finds 2-1, that the Port's program was insufficient in several respects. Despite that, funding for the Third Runway was approved by the PSRC, and the 'Port Package' program, proceeded largely unchanged. Expert Arbitration Panel's final decision finding that the Port of Seattle had not shown sufficient reduction in real on-the-ground noise impacts to satisfy noise reduction conditions required for approval of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. The majority decision concluded the Port's noise abatement programs were insufficient despite being impressive in scope.

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