Is Everett's Paine Field the Solution to Sea-Tac's Congestion?
At Everett’s Paine Field on a recent summer afternoon, 20 or so passengers were quietly queued up at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter, waiting for a flight to Anchorage. Except for them, the terminal was nearly empty. The coffee shop was closed. One couple sat in comfortable chairs in the otherwise empty baggage area.
No planes were yet at the two gates. No cars were lined up at the entrance. The parking lots had plenty of space.
Paine Field’s commercial service got off to a promising start in 2019, when passenger volume hit one million passengers. But then COVID-19 hit, and the airport has struggled since, recording just 636,000 passengers last year with service from only one airline, Alaska. Its flights from Paine are focused on leisure travel and are limited primarily to Alaska, the West Coast and Hawaii.
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Elsewhere, air travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels: On July 7, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hit 191,000 passengers—just shy of its all-time record. This summer the airport recorded eight of its 10 all-time busiest days. Congestion in and out of the terminal continues to build.
https://www.postalley.org/2024/08/12/is-everetts-paine-field-the-solution-to-sea-tacs-congestion/