When Paine Field, about 25 miles north of Seattle in Everett, Wash., was born in the 1930s as a New Deal project, it was envisioned as a major commercial airport for the region. But that never happened. Instead, it became known as the place where Boeing offers “North America’s only publicly available commercial jet assembly plant tour.”
That is about to change. Thanks to private investment, Paine Field is finally set to offer air service to the public. A sleek, new, $40 million two-gate terminal was built by Propeller Airports, a Seattle company, and commercial flights are set to begin this month.
Brett Smith, Propeller’s founder and chief executive, expects that travelers will be attracted by the convenience of avoiding traffic jams near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. “No reason why tax dollars should be used to build passenger travel while there’s private-sector money ready and willing to do it,” he said.
The New York Times
By Amy Zipkin
March 3, 2019