PORT ANGELES — Metropolitan Seattle’s main airport could cut its landing fees for airlines that serve rural communities like Port Angeles, says a Port of Port Angeles commissioner, possibly reviving scheduled passenger service here.
Colleen McAleer told her fellow commissioners and members of the Clallam County Economic Development Council last week that Port Angeles, Pullman, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima could benefit from the program.
Representatives of those communities’ ports will meet Jan. 26 with officials of the Port of Seattle, which owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, to discuss the fee waiver and other incentives.
The landing fee waiver program has been available since 2007, said Port of Seattle public affairs manager Perry Cooper, but presently is unused. What’s new is the five communities coalescing to take advantage of it, McAleer said.
Exactly how much money air carriers pay to land at Sea-Tac — or how much money they could save — remains to be determined, Cooper said. But the savings could total “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”
McAleer called the fees “onerous” to small carriers.
Port Angeles lost scheduled passenger air service to Seattle when Kenmore Air quit William R. Fairchild International Airport on Nov. 14, citing high costs and low ridership.
Todd Banks, Kenmore’s chief executive officer, said Friday that the Port of Seattle’s proposal interested him.
Presently, however, Kenmore has no terminal at Sea-Tac. It flew its Port Angeles passengers in and out of nearby Boeing Field with shuttle connections to Sea-Tac.
Other carriers who might provide service from Port Angeles to Sea-Tac could include Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Express, McAleer said.
Of the cities in the informal coalition, only Port Angeles currently lacks scheduled air service, but McAleer said the other communities are struggling to maintain their connections.
The incentive program is for carriers flying aircraft that carry 40 or fewer passengers.
Such would include the eight- to nine-passenger Cessna Caravans, Grand Caravans and Piper Chieftains flown by Kenmore, and the smaller Bombardier and Embraer planes flown by United Express.
Carriers still would have to pay gate charges, ticket counter fees, baggage costs and ramp fees, among other costs, Cooper said.
If the carrier fulfilled 75 percent of its scheduled landings, the incentives would be renewed for a second year. After that, the carrier would pay full fees, McAleer said.
The fee waivers wouldn’t be the only favors Sea-Tac could do for rural communities, she said.
The airport could provide advertising at its gates and concourses for such attractions as Twilight tours in Forks, July’s annual Sequim Lavender Weekend and Olympic National Park.
Furthermore, carriers could coordinate with cruise ship lines to provide extended travel packages.
For instance, McAleer said, a visitor could fly into Port Angeles to visit the park, then fly to Seattle to board a cruise to Alaska or attend Lavender Weekend after disembarking from such a cruise.
Fairchild still would be responsible for providing some services to a scheduled air carrier, such as paying Transportation Security Administration officers, providing de-icing of aircraft and ensuring fire protection 20 minutes prior to and after aircraft arrivals and departures, McAleer said.
That last function was filled for Kenmore by Rite Bros. Aviation, a charter and air taxi service at Fairchild.
Scheduled to attend the Jan. 26 meeting for the Port of Seattle are Mark Reis, aviation director; Mike Ehl, director of airport operations; and Jane Kilburn, director of tourism development.
Representing the Port of Port Angeles will be McAleer; Jennifer States, director of business development; and Marsha Massey, interim executive director of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau.
McAleer wants other Clallam County public and private officials involved in the effort, possibly to establish a ticket bank for local governments and larger companies to buy discounted airfares in advance.
All the considerations combined — fee waivers, advertising, excursions and prepaid tickets — could help rural communities regain or preserve scheduled air service, McAleer said, and help the Port of Seattle grow its traffic and revenue at Sea-Tac.
“It would be a huge win for our community that the Port of Seattle is interested in economic development that could help outlying communities,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Port of Port Angeles, which operates Fairchild airport, expects to award a contract of an estimated $40,000 to $50,000 within the next four weeks to determine area passenger needs as part of a “demand forecast study,” according to port Executive Director Ken O’Hollaren.
The results will be made available to carriers interested in replacing Kenmore and should be completed by mid-March, he predicted.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com