PORT ANGELES — A $400,000 federal Department of Transportation grant was awarded last week to the Port of Port Angeles to update a five-year master plan for William R. Fairchild International Airport — one that did not live up to expectations.
The 2011 plan that will be updated foresaw a possible dramatic increase in passengers and flights during a period during which ridership dropped so precipitously that Fairchild — and all of Clallam and Jefferson counties — lost commercial airline passenger service.
Port Executive Director Ken O’Hollaren said the Transportation award, one of $13 million in grants to 10 airports in Washington state, will help fund a process that will lead to an environmental assessment of potential tree-cutting in nearby Lincoln Park, which would unblock the flight path of the airport’s main runway.
“This is a requirement of the [Federal Aviation Administration] before the environmental assessment, which we have been working toward,” O’Hollaren said.
“The study will look at current demand and projected demand to determine what in the FAA’s mind should be the critical runway length they can continue to support by way of funding.
“They look at all sizes and what runway length is required of all aircraft that use the facility and are projected to use the facility and make a determination.
“Hopefully, it will demonstrate a need for a full-length runway.”
Lincoln Park trees
The trees in the city-owned Lincoln Park adjacent to the airport have grown so tall they have compromised the approach to the 6,350-foot main runway, cutting the safe approach to 5,000 feet.
The city of Port Angeles will have the final say on whether trees are cut.
The airport has been largely dormant since the November departure of the North Olympic Peninsula’s lone scheduled passenger service, Kenmore Air, which stopped Port Angeles service in November due to declining ridership.
Rite Bros. Aviation still offers charter service, and private aircraft still land at the airport.
Possible new carriers
Port officials have been trying to attract new carriers.
Among the possibilities are SeaPort Airlines of Portland, Ore.,which would fly nine-seat Cessna Caravans, and Alaska Airlines through its subsidiary, Horizon.
Horizon would offer a larger, 76-passenger aircraft directly to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, unlike Kenmore, which flew to Boeing Field and shuttled passengers to Sea-Tac.
The 2011 master plan foresees the port working with the city on projects “that may require either purchase or other actions within Lincoln Park,” according to the plan’s executive summary.
“The total passenger demand that exists within the airport’s service area is considerably larger than the forecasts included in the master plan, so the level of passengers and flights could increase dramatically,” it says.
Kenmore began serving the North Olympic Peninsula in 2004 after taking over from Horizon Air, which stopped service after concluding, like Kenmore eventually did, that the route was not profitable.
At the time, Horizon cited annual losses of $1.5 million.
By the time Kenmore left last fall, it had been losing money since at least 2008, company President Todd Banks told the Peninsula Daily News on Nov. 1, when the company announced a cessation-of-service date of Nov. 15.
“I can’t square that circle,” port Airport and Marinas Manager Jerry Ludke said Friday.
“[Banks] never said to me, ‘We were losing money since 2008,’ but we were certainly aware it was a marginal operation, money-wise.
“The operation into Boeing Field wasn’t ideal.
“Getting into Sea-Tac is more promising.”
Corporate aircraft
The 2011 master plan also predicted that the fastest-growing segment of airport activity would continue to be corporate aircraft.
“Businesses in Port Angeles and Clallam County attract a customer base that travels by private jet, and as operations related to the boat-building industry show, these have resulted in a substantial number of operations over the past five years,” Ludke said.
“The growth trend is expected to continue in the future, with the small business jet expected to be the critical aircraft through the period covered in this forecast.”
Ludke said business jet activity has stayed steady over the past five years, estimating that four to five of the aircraft land at Fairchild every week.
“It hasn’t really grown,” he said.
The master plan was written by URS Corp., which now is Los Angeles-based AECOM Inc.
Company spokesman Ed Mayer did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
