B’ham Airport: Convenience Has Its Costs

Matt Paskus graduated from both Seattle University and Western Washington University with degrees in mathematics and geography. He works for a local software company as a Systems Administrator. He has also worked for several large companies such as Costco, Boeing, Shell, and Halliburton. Matt has had the opportunity to live and work in various countries which adds a bit of insight when it comes to land use and transportation. He enjoys being with his family, traveling, gardening, watching sports, and most of all giving back to the community. Matt is working on a masters degree at Huxley College; his thesis will study the dynamic effects of flight patterns on land use.

I have a degree in mathematics and environmental resource management. I have always liked to be on the winning team. I’ve worked for Fortune 500 corporations in the United States and abroad, and I’ve worked for Boeing, taking pride in what we did and what the company continues to do. I never really thought I’d be writing an article about how hard it is to protect a little piece of something that has irreplaceable value.

Bellingham is a great city where we have access to some of nature’s finest pieces of work. So I guess that’s why we need an airport. Or is this simply a myth fed to us by various interests tricking us into thinking we really do? I remember walking out of a Port of Bellingham meeting with Frank Chmelik, the port’s counsel, and Scott Walker. They appreciated my comments and blamed the past Port Commissioners. I simply said, “Then why are you approving FAA grants that promote expansion? Every grant takes another bite out of the community. It’s a death by a thousand cuts.” Today, it’s the same story, but now the Port of Bellingham says it’s the FAA and not the port.

I also enjoy travelling and I really don’t mind the flights through SeaTac (SEA) from Bellingham (BLI) if I have to get somewhere. So why write this article? The reason is simple: I value what we have here. To put it simply, distance keeps Bellingham, Bellingham.

I started my crusade (or as some people say, “my activism”) in 2006, just after Western Airlines announced that they would be offering flights to various vacation destinations from Bellingham. Earlier that year, I tried getting on a neighborhood airport advisory group but I said a few dirty words like environment, sustainability, and Huxley while ending my remarks with something like protecting the residents. I swear I heard crickets chirping after they all gave me that deer in the headlights look and one person asked, “Are you a pilot?” Again, remember I said I liked being on the winning team? That’s when I thought Art Choat, the Port of Bellingham’s Aviation Director, might be able to share a bit of aviation wisdom with me so I was invited up to his office.

Art is a tall man. I had never really known that after every question, he always ended his sentences with a laugh. Not that this was a natural characteristic, but I think it was more the norm for answering questions from the public that were against the philosophy of running the Port of Bellingham’s airport. I think I remember reading this technique in some negotiation or psychology book in my youth.

I remember asking Art about Western Airlines’ business model and he responded that there was plenty of demand and they had a great business model. I asked later about the number of flights we could expect and hours of operations. This is when Art replied, “We don’t discriminate against carriers.” I had never really heard the word “discriminate” used about anything other than people. Art said that was a federal law written by the FAA. For instance, when the Port of Bellingham applied for various grants for funding airport projects over the years, the FAA has a binding agreement about “discrimination” when you receive funds.

In short, it took away our rights as a community to control hours of operation, frequency, or types of aircraft flying into Bellingham. So what basically happened is the Port of Bellingham’s airport was going to close if it had not received the grants and the only people who knew this were the law firm representing the port and the Port of Bellingham. The grant to purchase homes in the 1990s to expand the runway was one such grant. The pitch at the time was that SeaTac would never have a third runway and we would have flights to Alaska. This marketing and justification of funds has gone on for years in the interest of the airlines and especially now since the airlines know that Canadian tariffs on their aviation carriers and facilities make Bellingham easy money.

What you are reading is nothing new. The aviation industry is very powerful; there are contractors, airlines, and aviation services marketing small regional airports around the country and the last people to know are the defenseless communities that have the most to lose. There are numerous groups that are trying to undo what might seem undoable.

Before leaving his office, Art recommended I stop by the Bellingham International Airport Advisory Committee (BIAAC), a small group that meets on Thursdays every other month. At the first of those meetings I attended, I noticed there was a majority of aviation industry professionals, either associated with the port, or who had other aviation related interests. I also met, for the first time, Barbara Brenner, who is with the County Council. She was kind enough to call me when I asked her about the vibration from takeoffs and the overall environmental impact that the neighborhoods would experience as the port pitched more airlines producing more flights. She mentioned that aircraft didn’t bother her, but the helicopters did. When someone tells you the problem is not the airline, but the helicopters and you later find out her husband is associated with the aviation industry, you get a sick feeling inside. So, now I knew Barbara’s role on the BIAAC. I suggested to her that she might want to spend more time helping residents with environmental concerns and not just supporting her pilot constituents.

As a side note, Western Airlines lasted less than a month and SkyBus less than a year due to financial problems. The Port of Bellingham during that time also waived a percentage of landing fees (75 percent) and applied it to marketing and advertising in various media outlets such as The Bellingham Herald and local radio stations. This brings up another example of just how much the media outlets, such as the Herald, rely on the Port of Bellingham’s advertising fees. So, when is a story about the airlines a story or simply a free op-ed advertisement? Our local media dropped the ball and played a numbers game downplaying the environmental impact of the airport on our community when they should have stimulated awareness and done more research.

I can understand that Bellingham City Council may be nervous about the future legal battles related to the anti-coal initiative, but I don’t blame the anti-coal folks because from what I have witnessed, I would not trust any politician, especially at the Port of Bellingham. The only real initiatives are keeping General Aviation costs as low as possible while at the same time building new GA facilities.

Earlier this year, Bert Webber, a retired environmental educator from Western, was the newly appointed environmental representative on the BIAAC. At his first meeting, he went after the most highly contentious, agitating irritation on every pilot’s bum, toxic lead fumes. A motion was brought forward to have a letter written by the Port of Bellingham to the FAA expressing a concern of lead toxins reaching Alderwood Elementary School. The motion failed because most of the BIAAC members work in the aviation industry.

Here Are Some Facts:

• The airport will never make money, Scott Walker.

• The airport serves a majority of Canadian passengers (80 percent), Dan Zenk.

• Whatcom County is not large enough to support the airport alone, John Yarnish URS.

• The Government of British Columbia and Canada want their catchment back.

When will the Port of Bellingham help the community? Nothing has been spent in solving the environmental issues. Not only were homes taken in the 90s, but now we’re on the verge of destroying more neighborhoods so air carriers can offer us competitive rates.

This statement was made by Doug Smith.: “The whole idea of attracting Seattle travelers to Bellingham to use our airport, I think that would be totally unacceptable to the community.” (Bellingham Herald, June 20, 2008). But, in that same year, the Port of Bellingham voted to expand not only the terminal, but the parking and taxiways allowing more people and larger aircraft. Port Commissioners Doug Smith, Scott Walker, and Jim Jorgenson voted continually for various expansion projects. My point is that the information is all out there, but the media drop the ball.

In 2002, the airport decided to do something about the beaver population that was causing flooding on the runway. The airport is surrounded by wetlands, and, believe it or not was an actual lake. Their habitat was … let’s just say, removed. Beavers are a keystone animal, meaning we use them as an environmental indicator helping us predict what might happen to an area. This is similar to what happened to residents when they expanded the runway in the 90s. The homes were destroyed and the community disappeared.

On a New York-to-Denver flight, a commercial jet would generate 840 to 1,660 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. That’s about what an SUV generates in a month. USA Today December 19, 2006.

Every grant the Port of Bellingham Commissioners sign increases the demand for capacity which leads to more and more flights. This is no different from the coal terminal debate for increasing train frequency.

Recently the Port of Bellingham has held open houses to acknowledge the environmental impacts associated with an airport. Why wasn’t this done four years ago prior to approving work that increased the airport’s capacity to where it is today? We are also in a “too big to fail” scenario. I remember asking Dan Zenk, the director of aviation, “How many flights do we need for a berm to be built to block jet blast?” His response was that he had “never really heard that before.” But, he has in a way because they depend on enplaned passenger fees to help fund a small percentage of projects. If the market demand were to shrink and passenger counts or flights were to decrease, then the port would not have enough money to pay back the bonds. Just prior to Executive Director Charlie Sheldon’s resignation, Zenk pitched Bellingham airport to a bunch of airlines in the Bahamas. When Dan got back, I questioned in an email what would happen if they all accepted BLI as a new market? What would happen to the current master plan? Jet Blue and Southwest were some of the carriers, and we now have Allegiant and Alaska Airlines trying to outshine each other for lower British Columbia’s catchment.

So, not only are we looking at more flights, but also additional stresses on people living in a six- mile radius of the airport. These airline companies don’t care about Bellingham. Sure, they’ll put a float in the parade, but they don’t care about us, the people of Bellingham.

Occasionally the Port of Belling-ham has a coffee event where you can meet the Commissioners and discuss anything. I attended one at Graham’s Restaurant, in Glacier, on a beautiful autumn day. First, I didn’t know Glacier had a Port District, and second, I wanted to find out how people felt about the growth at the airport. There was enough food supplied by the port to feed Glacier for the entire winter. Most of the folks were retired and seemed more worried about the possibility of coal trains heading their way than the port’s ability to fund a grant for an economic stimulus.

I remember having lunch with Ken Oplinger, who at the time was new to the Chamber of Commerce. I have not really seen him lately but I remember him telling me at the time that there was no reason for Allegiant to be here especially with Abbotsford being so close. Ken works on forging regional consensus on transportation. What this means is making sure Canadian air carriers can’t compete while at the same time failing to offer rail initiatives, and strategically keeping Canadian passengers from using Abbotsford and Paine Field in the future.

I would love to be in a meeting with Everett and Abbotsford city leaders listening to the port’s aviation director highlight how Bellingham has taken enplaned catchment at a rate of 538 percent since 2004. So let’s imagine for a moment that the tax levies become more competitive in British Columbia and Everett’s Paine Field goes commercial. I wonder what would happen here. Dan Zenk was quoted in the The Herald (Everett) article on February 12, 2012 titled, “Bellingham can teach Everett a thing or two about travel” in reference to Paine Field, saying that he felt Bellingham was more of a rural area so therefore Everett should scratch their plans to go commercial so we can take their future catchment away.

So imagine all these regional airports around the country trying to outbid and take catchment away from each other with the total disregard to the environmental concerns communities have. A great illustration of this is in the Boston area. I was invited to give a talk at an MBA class at Northwestern on sustainability by Professor Rae Andre last year. She authored a great book called “Take Back the Sky,” a historical, but tragic account of an American community outside the Boston area haunted by aviation expansion. Within an hour’s drive of Boston’s Logan airport you have Hanscom Field, Portsmouth, N.H., Manchester, N.H., and Providence, R.I. Debi Wagnor’s book, “Over My Head” tackles the toxic emissions at SEATAC.

We are witness to a system that is broken. As long as there are lobbyists, and as long as there are people unable to see through the layers and connect the dots we are in big trouble. Having travelled for both business and pleasure, I can assure you that what we are seeing here is about greed, consumption, and a failure to do the right thing for people and the environment. The people who live in our own community deserve better. The Port of Bellingham allows individuals to comment on their master plan, so please give it some thought, and let the port know what you think. Convenience has its costs and when you see what nature has created, it’s worth protecting.

My work has been considered controversial, by some. I have been called anti-government by aviation professionals by simply questioning things like frequency, noise, emissions, and the overall reasons for regional airport growth in areas that already have a surplus of airports within driving distance. Airport catchment is not a game communities should be that interested in when the environment and quality of life is at risk. My thesis can be found at www.spinningGlass. org.