Addressing aviation needs: public invited to virtual open house and public meetings about the future of aviation

*(correction) Antonov An-124 on the taxiway at Paine Field. Photo copyright, Marc Weinberg 

Online open house Aug. 15 - Sept. 9; virtual public meetings planned for Aug. 23 and 31

OLYMPIA – The demand for aviation in Washington state is growing and will soon exceed the capacity of some highly used existing facilities.

Community members are invited to learn more about efforts to address demand through existing airports in the state or a new airport location. 

People who are interested may provide input through an online open house or two public meetings. The online open house and virtual meetings are being held by the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission to recommend strategies to address growing aviation needs.

Online open house

• Online open house: Monday, Aug. 15 – Friday, Sept. 9
• Where: engage.wsdot.wa.gov/cacc/
• Details: In addition to English, the online open house will be available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese

Online virtual public meetings

• Noon – 1pm Tuesday, Aug. 23
• 5:30 – 6:30pm, Wednesday, Aug. 31
• Visit wsdot.wa.gov/travel/aviation/commercial-aviation-coordinating-commission to access the link to the online meetings.

The commission is considering environmental effects, economic and technical criteria, and public feedback and opinion as it develops recommendations to improve Washington’s air transportation capacity. 

The input Washington residents share will play an important role in the recommendations the CACC develops.

The CACC is studying both short and long-term strategies to address air passenger service, air cargo operations and general aviation capacity needs. 

This is an opportunity for the state to consider how to meet capacity limits while also planning for the use of innovative technologies and the concept of an airport of the future within the state’s aviation system. 

Incorporating innovative technologies could result in the increased use of sustainable aviation fuels, clean energy production at airports, and significantly reduced harmful emissions and noise from airplanes while providing additional commercial air service to more airports around the state.

About the Commercial Aviation Coordination Commission

The CACC was created by the Legislature in 2019 to ensure Washington can meet future commercial aviation demands. 

The Legislature directed three phases for the commission’s work: 

• Phase I: develop a short list of six locations.
• Phase II: identify the top two locations.
• Phase III: choose a single preferred location by a 60-percent majority vote.

In December 2020, the CACC released its Phase I report, which listed six preliminary airport sites with potential for expansion to meet both short and long-term aviation needs.

A February 2022 report provided a final short list of six locations.

Two of the six airport sites are now being studied for expanded service including Bremerton National Airport for air cargo operations and Paine Field in Snohomish County for air cargo and additional passenger service. The CACC is also studying 10 representative sites in the Puget Sound region as an option for a new airport.

The commission will provide a recommendation to the Legislature by June 15, 2023 for a single preferred location to meet the forecast demand for commercial passenger service, air cargo, and general aviation.

The CACC’s 15 voting and 11 non voting members include representatives from the aviation industry, the public, airport communities, freight industry, state and local agencies and elected officials. WSDOT provides the CACC technical assistance and staff support from its Aviation Division.

*From well-informed reader Bob: The aircraft depicted is actually an Antonov An-124. The An-225 was a larger, one-off, six-engine derivative of the An-124 designed originally to transport the Russian space shuttle in the late 1980s. Until its destruction by Russian bombing of Ukraine in February 2022, it had served long and well transporting outsize cargo and relief supplies around the world.