The Washington Legislature recognizes shortfalls in future capacity at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and has created the Commercial Aviation Work Group to provide a comprehensive investigation of aviation capacity in Western Washington State and to recommend options to address aviation needs in the context of overall state transportation needs in the next twenty years using independently verifiable data. Governor Jay Inslee has stressed that the Work Group use an “all of transportation” approach to meeting the aviation transportation needs of the region. The Work Group will consist of 19 voting members to be appointed by the Governor to represent a variety of interests including commercial service airports, the airline industry or businesses that rely on air service, statewide business association, citizen representatives, freight forwarding and trucking industry, community organizations that recognize the impacts of large commercial service airports, and statewide environmental organizations. Once formed, the Work Group will invite 11 non-voting members to join the Work Group. These members will include representatives from the Washington Aviation Alliance, Washington Senate, Washington House, the Washington Department of Commerce, Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation Division, metropolitan planning organizations, and regional airports. The Work Group will elect their own chair and will determine their own process for developing recommendations. Administrative support to the Work Group will be provided by WSDOT-Aviation personnel.
