Editorial -- Breaking Sea-Tac's Monopoly

With the legal cases between the Port of Seattle and the Airport Communities Coalition at an end, it's time to take a fresh look at aviation planning in the Central Puget Sound. Why is it that we have only one airport serving most of our needs for scheduled passenger service? Most large urban areas in the U.S. have at least two airports, & usually those airports are competing with one another. Competition is a good thing – it results in better service, lower costs, & increased flexibility. Sea-Tac's efforts to jack up its charges to airlines by 250% demonstrate how monoply power harms the public interest. Multiple airports also provide some assurance of continued air travel in case of natural disaster (earthquakes are our local specialty), fire, flood, plane crash, labor strife, terrorist attacks …. We need to get serious about this problem.

Everyone gives lip service to the idea of having more than one airport to meet our local air-travel demands, even the Port of Seattle. But since this became official policy of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) eight years ago, no public agency has done much to push the idea towards reality. It has fallen to citizen airport-concern groups to keep the flame alive. Seattle Council on Airport Affairs has made a second regional airport one of its three top priorities, & in the months ahead, the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs will be putting renewed emphasis on this issue.

PSRC Wants To Hear from Us

The time is right for citizens & public officials to pay more attention to the single-airport problem. For the first time ever, PSRC will hold its annual aviation workshop out in the community. Here is a grand opportunity to speak out for a better airport system that does not reinforce Sea-Tac's present monopoly. The workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, October 20, at the Highline School District's board room, 15675 Ambaum Boulevard SW, Burien. PSRC is well aware that it needs to find a way to realize its own goal of a multiple airport system. Interested citizens can make a real difference by adding their support.

Passengers Planes for Paine Field

This issue is more than an exercise in planning. While Sea-Tac Airport likes to pr