The pain that is Paine Field (KPAE)

Seventy-five years ago, Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration built what is now Paine Field, never anticipating a battle over commercial air service that would sinew its way into the 21st century. The 1,000-acre facility, which served on and off as a military installation, was put under Snohomish County's purview in the mid-1960s. And so began the long, twilight struggle pitting exuberant air-service boosters against noise-addled NIMBYs.

The latest chapter reinforces the wisdom of Alexis de Tocqueville nearly two centuries ago, that “there is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.” As The Herald's Noah Haglund reported Monday, the cities of Mukilteo and Edmonds, along with Save Our Communities, an anti-commercial group, are headed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday to challenge a 2012 Federal Aviation Administration report. Consistent with two earlier reports, the FAA determined that commercial air service offers no significant environmental or noise impacts.

The FAA's Final Environmental Assessment was a three-year slog. Over the past quarter century, Paine Field has become a case study in studies. This includes the Boeing Master Plan for facility expansion for the 777, the Southwest Everett/Paine Field Master Plan, and the Paine Field Master Plan noise studies and updates.

There are a few takeaways: Saying “no” to interested airlines could imperil Paine Field's sacrosanct FAA funding. And commercial service at an airport, which currently runs at only 48 percent capacity, will be a boon for Snohomish, Skagit and Island County families who deserve alternatives to Sea-Tac and Bellingham. A two-gate terminal puts Paine Field on par with Walla Walla and Wenatchee. Big airports, they are not.

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