Palouse Airport Must Upgrade

The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport faces the possibility of losing federal money and permission to serve commercial passenger airlines unless it works toward upgrading facilities.

“It’s either have no airport or do something,” manager David Crowner said.

Airport officials are updating the 20-year master plan under directives from the Federal Aviation Administration to comply with safety standards. That will cost an estimated $23 million to $29 million, but Crowner said much of that would be shouldered by the federal government.

The FAA has pledged to pay 90 percent of most improvement costs through an aviation trust financed by a 10-percent tax on ticket purchases. Additional costs likely could be paid through an existing $3 charge on each ticket purchased for the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, Crowner said.

Airport operations are financed by the cities of Pullman and Moscow, Idaho’s Latah County and the Port of Whitman County in Washington. The University of Idaho and Washington State University also have contributed improvement funds.

Crowner said most of the airport’s needs stem from the fact that it was not originally designed to handle commercial passenger flights. It now is served by one commercial airline, Horizon Air.

“This was built as a utility airport, not an air carrier airport,” Crowner said.