Yes, I did that confirmation after talking with the person at the county responsible for signing the lease with Propeller.

The Seattle Times is just rehashing something the mayor of Mukilteo, a vocal opponent of flights from Paine Field, thinks is the case. The very next sentence in the article, from Propeller, says "However, Propeller’s Smith said Thursday that though he’s 'trying to work with the people of Mukilteo,' there is no such agreement."

There is no such agreement.

Edit: Looks like the Times actually fixed the article after first publication. They have this correction at the end:

Neil

👍🏼

Now that the terminal has reached capacity more than a year before it is opened, it is time that the terminal be redesigned to accommodate at least one bus gate. One bus gate can easily serve two planes, making it like 4 gates.

It could be like
Gate 1 - Alaska/Horizon
Gate 2 - United
Gate 3 - another airline

Probably not. The Snohomish County Council specifically wants a SMALL terminal such that Paine Field doesn't turn into a larger commercial airport- FAA regulations say they have to allow commercial service because they accepted FAA funds for the airport, but they do NOT have to expand the airport to accommodate more commercial service beyond the terminal that Snohomish County will own (and the operators operate for them on a lease- so it's not up to the operators, the terms of the lease have to be approved by the County Council and can't just be amended on a whim). The operators specifically designed a small terminal such that the County Council and Propeller Aviation can tell other airlines to sod off if they want to expand into PAE and all the gates are full. The community is not all 100% boosterism about this (unlike the Armchair Airline CEO Club here on FlyerTalk). Think Long Beach (the flighting around LGB is legendary).

It's likely that attitudes around this will change - people on the North End will have an alternate airport, but with limited choices and (presumably) higher fares. This will make their region less competitive.

Of course, King County will continue to be happy to eat Snohomish County's lunch while remaining the most competitive economic powerhouse in the region.

Very happy when I saw this. Hopefully a bit of competition will keep Alaska's fares out of PAE from getting too crazy. Like I said before, it'll be more convenient for me to fly SFO-PAE, but I probably wouldn't if it's twice the price.

I, for one, think this is great for anyone north of Seattle downtown.

SEA is not a very nice airport. The Centurion Lounge and the new Sky Club are a respite from crowded gates and generally a poor design of an airport.

I'd pay $100.00+ fare to travel from PAE to avoid the traffic on I-5 and how inefficient SEA works.

However, I'm escaping the madness and moving back home to Boston and will enjoy B6. :D

These two things are mutually exclusive, you realize? :D But B6 is definitely enjoyable.

There's a lot of concurrency in development that has to go on if you want a fairly large airport- roads, parking and so on. Mukilteo residents and people living near Paine Field aren't necessarily going to want that. PAE is not going to get light rail for almost 20 years, for instance. SEA already has it.

Any update on when the flights will be bookable?

The update presumably is going to be a BIG DEAL ANNOUNCEMENT from Alaska. Last update from them is still "Fall 2018".

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...in/flight-plan

Ugh... my September is already getting full. Hope this gets revealed soon.

Agreed. It better not conflict with the PIT inaugural.

Neil

I've scheduled a 3 week trip to Italy late Sept to mid-October. Since I really want to be on the first flight out, I can guarantee it will occur during my vacation. ::rolleyes: