Posted on 10/11/2005 11:45:58 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative
SEATTLE - King County Executive Ron Sims on Tuesday rejected proposals by Southwest Airlines and Alaska Air Group to begin flying passenger jets out of Boeing Field, citing concerns about traffic, noise and the potential cost to taxpayers.
"I have said all along that I would not endorse any proposal from any airline if it led to significant traffic and noise impacts," Sims said.
Southwest was the first to propose the move from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to the smaller county-run airport closer to Seattle. The airline said it needed to make the move to continue its low-cost service, and offered to build a new terminal at Boeing Field.
Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, submitted a similar proposal. Alaska said it would have to move some of its flights to compete with Southwest, even it though doesn't agree that large-scale passenger service at Boeing Field is a good idea.
Sims said it would be too costly and time-consuming to study competing proposals from Southwest and Alaska.
"I simply am not willing to spend taxpayer money in that way," Sims said.
Southwest and Alaska did not immediately return calls for comment.
Is the 787 a Wichita production?
If Southwest pays, then I'm all for it.
No, it will be assembled in Renton. This was a phyrric victory for the labor uninons. The sub assmeblies that will be bolted together in Renton in three days will be mostly built at subcontractors facilities located around the world and airfreighted in. Most of the manufacturing jobs and value added in manufacturing will not be located in the state of Washington. Boeing will mostly be a designing company and integrator. Even quite a bit of the designing is being outsourced. The 747-400LCF aircraft that will be used to transport fuselage assemblies and other bulky parts is being designed by Boeing's Moscow design bureau and modified in Taiwan.
If every airline currently at SEATAC moved to Boeing Field, Boeing Field would be too crowded. It would need at least one other runway. According to sources I have read on the internet, there is no place to build another runway there.
I hope some airlines leave and it gets really bad here. It would be hard short term but may affect the sort of foundational change so desperately needed.
Pull it up on google Earth, there isn't much room.
Not on the computer I'm on now.
Install it!
Its free and cool.
More specifics about what you need to run Google Earth...
Minimum configuration:
- Operating system: Windows 2000, Windows XP
- CPU speed: Intel® Pentium® PIII 500 MHz
- System memory (RAM): 128MB
- 200MB hard-disk space
- 3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 16MB VRAM
- 1024x768, 32-bit true color screen
- Network speed: 128 kbps ("Broadband/Cable Internet")
Recommended configuration:
- Operating system: Windows XP
- CPU speed: Intel® Pentium® P4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
- System memory (RAM): 512MB
- 2GB hard-disk space
- 3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 32MB VRAM or greater
- 1280x1024, 32-bit true color screen
- Network speed: 128 kbps ("Broadband/Cable Internet")
Even if there was room, they could only build a parallel runway because of the hills - basically, another SeaTac.
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