Switch by airlines to Boeing blocked

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 that due to the rising cost of doing business at the expanding Sea-Tac, it needed to move to continue its low-cost service. It offered in July to spend $130 million to build a new eight-gate terminal at Boeing Field, from where it would operate up to 85 flights a day.

Though Sims was excited about Southwest’s offer, that changed a little more than two months later, when Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, submitted a similar proposal. Alaska offered to spend $150 million to move some of its flights to its own new eight-gate terminal at Boeing Field.

Alaska said it didn’t think putting commercial flights at Boeing Field was a good idea, but that it would need to compete with Southwest.

Sims said Boeing Field could not handle both proposals, with the resulting increase in traffic and noise, and he could not play favorites by picking one airline over the other. So he rejected them both.

He said the county would not foot the bill for road improvements needed to accommodate the increased traffic or for complex environmental studies the proposals would require.

Southwest Airlines said it was disappointed, accusing the county of not giving its proposal “the comprehensive examination it deserved.”