Seattle-Tacoma airport looks at major expansion
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport could be set for a major expansion.
The Port of Seattle commissioners on Tuesday discussed expansion plans that would help the airport accommodate a rapid growth in passenger traffic that's expected over the next two decades. First on the list of projects: a new international arrivals facility that would come online in 2019, The Seattle Times reports.
The Port also is looking at adding as many as 35 more gates to the 81 that already exist at the airport.
About 37 million passengers used the airport in 2014, but officials project that number will grow to 66 million by 2034. The Port of Seattle expects flight levels to increase as well – jumping to 540,000 takeoffs and landings per year in 2034, up from 350,000 in 2014.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is Seattle-Tacoma's busest airline, carrying more than half of the airport's traffic.
Beyond Alaska Air, Delta Air Lines has been expanding rapidly at Seattle. That carrier has moved to turn Seattle into a hub and a gateway for international flights, especially to Asia. But that growth has increasingly put Delta at odds with Alaska Airlines, which – for now – remains partners with Delta.
As for Delta, it is pushing for a new International Arrivals Facility that would replace the customs facility at Seattle-Tacoma's South Satellite terminal. That facility faces severe congestion when multiple international wide-body flights land around the same time.
Speaking to the Times, Mike Medeiros – Delta's executive in charge of its operations – called the planned International Arrivals Facility "critically, critically important for Sea-Tac to keep a competitive edge" against competing West Coast hubs like San Francisco and Vancouver.
However, the Times notes the estimated price tag for that facility has jumped from $344 million to $608 million.
The Times adds the facility -- and its cost -- "is already causing a fierce dispute between Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines over how, or even whether, it should be funded."
Alaska Air, of course, is primarily a domestic carrier, though it does offer a number of flights to Mexico and some to Canada. The Times writes "Alaska wants the majority of funding for the international facility to come from higher airport fees and rates charged to Delta and the other international carriers, which would then likely pass the cost along to passengers on their flights."
Alaska Air says it wants the fees it pays to the airport to be used for upgrades to the main terminal and airfield – and not for an international facility that Alaska Air says would provide a greater benefit to rival Delta than to itself.
Against that backdrop, Joe Sprague, Alaska Air's SVP for external affairs, urged the Port commissioners to "go back to the drawing board and come up with a project that costs less money," the Times reports.
Stay tuned …