Paine Field
Seattle Paine Field International Airport — also known as Paine Field and Snohomish County Airport — is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in unincorporated Snohomish County, Washington, between the cities of Mukilteo and Everett, about north of Seattle. PAE covers of land.
The airport was built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration and began commercial service in 1939. It was named for Topliff Olin Paine in 1941, shortly before the Army Air Corps began the occupation of Paine Field for military use. The airport briefly returned to civilian use from 1946 through 1950 with service by West Coast Airlines before conversion into an air force base during the Korean War. In 1966, the Boeing Company selected Paine Field for the site of its Everett assembly plant as part of the Boeing 747 program. By the 1970s, the airport had grown into a hub for light aviation and manufacturing, lacking commercial service. The county government sought to begin commercial service at Paine Field as early as the 1980s but was halted by opposition from neighboring cities.
In March 2019, Paine Field resumed commercial service at a newly constructed terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.
Description
Paine Field has two runways: 16R/34L and 16L/34R. 16R/34L, at in length, is suited for the majority of aircraft and sees occasional heavy traffic. The first 1,000 feet of runway 16R is concrete, while the remainder is asphalt. It is in very good condition. Runway 16L/34R is in length, and suitable only for small aircraft. Its pavement is in fair condition, with a noticeable rise in elevation mid-field, when compared with the ends. Runway 11-29 was decommissioned on September 10, 2020, and Boeing is leasing some of the former runway space to park partially completed aircraft. The Paine VOR/DME is located on the field. It is unusually mounted on top of a Boeing hangar.The airport has 456 general aviation hangars, of which 326 are leased by the County, and 130 are "condominium" hangars. Wait time for a hangar currently ranges between 6 months and 5 years, depending on type.
Paine Field is adjacent to the Boeing Everett Factory, the world's largest building by volume, and the primary assembly location for Boeing's wide-body 767 and 777, although the facility also produced the 747 and the 787, with the former ending production in 2022 and the latter being moved to Boeing South Carolina in March 2021. Paine Field is also home to Aviation Technical Services, one of the nation's largest aviation maintenance facilities. ATS operates a facility, formerly operated by Goodrich, and sold to ATS in the fall of 2007. ATS does 'heavy' checks for a number of airlines and cargo companies. According to their web page, they average 443 aircraft redeliveries each year.
Paine Field is home to four flight schools – Chinook Flight Simulations, Regal Air, Northway Aviation, and Everett Helicopters – making it a popular destination for flight training. There are also a number of flying clubs on the field. Paine Field leases commercial space to aviation-related and other small businesses on its property at the "IAC Building" located between the runways at the south end of the airport.
The FAA-operated control tower maintains limited hours, operating only between 7 AM and 9 PM local time. During times that the tower is operational, both runways are active, but after hours, only runway 16R-34L is open. The airport's administrative offices are located adjacent to the passenger terminal. It is scheduled to move in late February 2025 to a former Boeing training building to accommodate future expansion of the passenger terminal. The new administration building will be shared with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, who will locate their West Precinct on the first floor. The airport has several natural reserves and sanctuaries around its perimeter, including ponds that were certified in 2019 as Salmon-Safe. The salmon-safe area is bounded generally by Mukilteo Speedway on the west, State Route 526 on the north, Airport Road and Beverly Park Road on the south.
History
Paine Field was originally constructed in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project. At the time of development, it was envisioned that the Airport would create jobs and economic growth in the region by becoming one of the ten new "super airports" around the country.Paine Field was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps prior to entry into World War II as a patrol, air defense, and fighter training base and was later controlled by the U.S. Army Air Forces. With the end of the war, the airfield began to be returned to the civilian control of Snohomish County. In 1947, as transition activities were still underway, military control of the then-Paine Army Airfield was transferred to the newly established U.S. Air Force, with the facility renamed Paine Field. Transfer of the property to the Snohomish County government was completed in 1948, however, the Air Force continued to maintain various Air Defense Command units at the airport as military tenants.
Before Snohomish County could start planning for the continued development of a "super airport", the United States was again involved in an armed conflict—this time in Korea and also the breakout of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. When the Pacific Northwest defense installations were reviewed House Representative Henry M. Jackson recommended more military presence in the area and Paine Field was reactivated as a military airbase.
Paine Field was returned to USAF control in 1951, renamed Paine Air Force Base, and placed under the jurisdiction of the Air Defense Command. While the county relinquished most of its commercial facilities to house USAF personnel, units, and assets, the site did not have an exclusive military presence. The airfield remained a joint civil-military airport with the Air Force operating the control tower and other air traffic control facilities, while the county, in a shared-use agreement, rented commercial leasehold areas to businesses such as Alaska Airlines. The 4753rd Air Base Squadron was activated on the new Air Force base on February 1, 1952, as a placeholder unit.
Although inactive for only six years, significant military construction was necessary to bring the World War II training base up to postwar USAF standards. In 1951, additional land surrounding the Paine AFB site was appropriated for military facilities and extended runways. A 9,000-foot jet runway was constructed along with accompanying taxiways, permanent concrete buildings, and other support facilities to replace the temporary wartime wooden structures that were viewed as substandard for a permanent USAF base. The 529th Air Defense Group was activated on February 16, 1953, and became the permanent host unit at Paine AFB until redesigned as the 326th Fighter Group in 1955.
Various regular Air Force fighter-interceptor units and Air Force Reserve troop carrier units operated at Paine AFB from 1951 until the mid-1960s. In 1966, USAF identified Paine AFB for closure due to budgetary constraints caused by the cost of the Vietnam War. The by then-host unit, the 57th Fighter Group phased down operations with the departure of the interceptors and was inactivated in place on September 30, 1968. Paine AFB has inactivated on the same date and the facility was returned to full civilian control as Paine Field / Snohomish County Airport. The of the Washington Air National Guard, formerly situated at Paine Field, was inactivated in 2013.
Paine AFB / Paine Field had also been under consideration in the 1960s by Army Air Defense Command as one of several sites for the Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile System due to its central location to several other major military bases and defense industries in the Puget Sound Region. Sentinel was eventually dropped in favor of the limited Safeguard system.
On July 25, 1966, Boeing announced that it would build the Boeing 747, a jet airliner capable of carrying nearly twice as many passengers as previous models. To build the giant aircraft, Boeing had to construct a facility large enough to handle the world's largest commercial jetliner. The land just north of Paine Field was chosen to construct the new facilities, including some development on the airport itself. Both the local government and the FAA concurred with the development. Work on the massive building began in August 1966 and the first employees arrived in early 1967. The 747 made its first flight at Paine Field on February 9, 1969.
In 1984, the Snohomish County Council considered legislation to rename Paine Field for Senator Henry M. Jackson, who had died a few months earlier. The proposal was put on hold after the Port of Seattle renamed Seattle–Tacoma International Airport for Jackson, which sparked public outcry and force them to revert to the original name.
In late 2005, construction of the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour building was completed. The project, formerly known as the National Flight Interpretive Center, includes the Boeing factory tour as well as a gallery that highlights the newest developments in aviation, including both parts and components of airplanes, manufactured by Airbus and Boeing. The facility was opened to a private audience on December 16, 2005, and the following day the facility was open to the public. The Museum of Flight also has a restoration center at the airport's main gate; located further south is the Me 262 Project. Paul Allen's Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum has a large, refurbished hangar at the south end of the field, which opened as a museum in June 2008. The Historic Flight Foundation also housed and maintained early military aircraft. However, the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum closed in May 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and in April 2022 it was reported that the collection was sold and the museum would not re-open. The Historic Flight Foundation closed their museum at Paine Field in 2020 as well, with their museum at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington now being their only location.