Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission

Find information on the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, a group created by the Legislature to develop recommendations to meet Washington state critical aviation system capacity needs.

Information

Stay engaged (5/18/23)

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Governor Jay Inslee signed ESHB 1791 May 15 establishing a new Commercial Aviation Work Group (CAWG). However, sections 3, 5, 7, and 8 were vetoed.

Vetoed sections that did not become law include:

  • Section 3: CAWG task list
  • Section 5 : funding
  • Section 7: repeal of the statutes that created the CACC
  • Section 8: placed the CAWG into immediate effect

If you are interested in seeing video of the signing, here is the link and timepoint is 16:21: https://tvw.org/video/governor-jay-inslee-bill-signing-2023051166/ 

Due to the vetoed sections, the CACC remains in existence through its completion June 30 and the CACC plans to make a final recommendation to meet the June 15 deadline.

Once the upcoming meeting information is finalized, information will be sent out.

Upcoming engagement opportunities 

  • TBA

How to reach us

The CACC appreciates the emails from the public and the planning team is reading them and providing them to the commission members. Because of the high volume of emails, you may or may not receive an immediate response. We appreciate your comments and patience. The CACC will only log comments and answer questions sent to the following email address: CACC@wsdot.wa.gov.

Background

The CACC began in October 2019 and is required to meet three deadlines:

  • Phase 1: Provide an initial list of six possible locations to the Legislature by January 1, 2021 [Completed]
  • Phase 2: Provide a list of the top two locations (options) by October 15, 2022 [Completed]
  • Phase 3: Provide a single preferred location recommendation by June 15, 2023

As part of the recommendation approved by the Commission September 2022, the number of greenfield options provided by the consultant working on the aviation system plan was narrowed to three based on the technical data available. The commission will now focus on community engagement and additional technical analysis in order to narrow the options down further in the Spring of 2023.

The opportunity for community feedback is now more focused on the greenfield sites. Prior to this, it was focused on existing airport communities as that list of options was narrowed.

The consultant for the Washington Aviation System Plan (WASP) has been conducting technical analysis that also serves the needs of the Commission. The two activities are separate endeavors but have similar interests.  The reason the CACC decided to continue to consider the three greenfield sites is because all the analysis has not yet been completed; the CACC had a legislative deadline to report a reduced list of locations to the legislature.  Since there are still three sites being analyzed, the CACC chose to continue to examine these three sites as one of the options.  The analysis that is remaining includes:

  • Airspace review – with assistance from the FAA
  • Air cargo analysis
  • Additional environmental factor analysis
  • Transportation/access analysis
  • Infrastructure analysis
  • Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimates

Once this analysis is complete, the consultant planning team will provide the data to the Commission. We anticipate the first round of information in the February 2023 time frame and will schedule a commission meeting once the information is available.

The public is invited to future meetings and there will be an opportunity for public comments, and you will also see concentrated efforts for community input in and around the greenfield areas.  

The Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission was created by the Legislature and tasked WSDOT Aviation to provide staff support for coordinating and administering the commission and technical assistance as requested by commission members.

The CACC aims to recommend a single preferred location for a new commercial service airport by June 15, 2023. In addition to recommending a new primary commercial aviation facility, the commission will recommend additional ways to accommodate capacity needs at other facilities.

We are responsible, according to the Legislature (PDF 76 KB), for the administration of the commission’s work while providing technical support to the commission members.

Communication to the public and stakeholders will be crucial for CACC. The communication plan will provide the following:

  • A logical and factual framework for understanding the issues that must be addressed by the CACC and for understanding how the decisions will be made.
  • Meaningful ways for people who want to be included and involved in the deliberations of the CACC.
  • Assure that major stakeholders, such as local governments, the aviation industry, airports, and regional planning agencies have timely information to assure meaningful input

Commission recommendations (Phase 2)

The current Commission’s recommendations are as follows:

  •  Add capacity to Paine Field according to its Airport Master Plan (with potential for additional capacity), assume SEA executes its SAMP, assist other airports interested in pursuing regional commercial service (distributed air service supported by emerging technology)
  • Continue to develop a greenfield site option with a two (2) runway configuration. Pierce County Central, Pierce County East and Thurston County Central are the three greenfield sites remaining under consideration for a new airport, out of the 10 that were analyzed by the state's consultant.

2023

2022

2021

2020

Current events

May 4, 2023 12 - 1:30 p.m. - CACC Virtual Public Meeting

  • Sign up link will be provided soon

Past meetings and events

March 30, 2023 - CACC Virtual Public Meeting

March 8, 2023 - Virtual Public Meeting

March 9, 2023 - Virtual Public Meeting

Virtual drop-in sessions

Thank you all for joining our CACC Drop-In Office Hours. Recordings will be available soon.

Sept. 23, 2022 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. - Virtual Public Meeting

CACC Online Open House Aug. 15 - Sept. 11, 2022

August 31, 2022 Virtual Open House 

August 23, 2022 Virtual Open House

June 23, 2022 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Virtual Public Meeting

April 20, 2022 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. - Virtual Public Webinar

Feb. 16, 2022, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.- Virtual Public Webinar

Jan. 6, 2022, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. - Virtual Public Meeting

CACC Online Open House Sept. 20 - Dec. 8, 2021

Dec. 7, 2021, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Virtual Public Meeting

Nov. 10, 2021, 8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. - Virtual Public Meeting and webinar

August 26, 2021, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Virtual Public Meeting

June 15, 2021, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Virtual Public Webinar

April 29, 2021, 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Webinar and Virtual Public Meeting

Feb. 16, 2021, 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Virtual Public Webinar

Dec. 9, 2020, 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Virtual Public Webinar

  • Webinar on SeaTac Sustainability and UW ultrafine particulate studies
  • PowerPoint (Please email to obtain)

Oct. 21, 2020, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Virtual Public Meeting

July 22, 2020, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Virtual Public Meeting

April 2020 straw poll on a preferred strategy

Commissioners participated in a straw poll on a preferred strategy (no decision was made) for addressing Washington's aviation capacity and offered their preferences, along with comments on their reasons for doing so. The results of the poll are as follows:

1. Develop on large Sea-Tac-size airport: 0
2. Expand and/or improve one or more existing airports, to provide commercial and freight service: 7
3. Combine these strategies to meet near-term capacity needs from existing airports while conducting the processes necessary for a large new airport: 14
4. I don't know: 0
5. No answer: 4
Survey comments (PDF 202KB)

Jan. 9, 2020

Oct. 30, 2019

Contact information

Christina Crea
Communications
CACC@wsdot.wa.gov
360-810-0902

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