RCAA Issues Fact Sheet on 3rd Runway Use

How did the FAA and the Port of Seattle say that the third runway would be used:  The following RCAA Fact SHeet (no. 19) quotes from the official documents.

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RCAA fact sheet no. 19

SOME RELEVANT MATERIALS ABOUT THE PLANNED USE
 OF THE THIRD RUNWAY AT SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

All materials mentioned below are found in the Final EIS for the third runway (& other Sea-Tac Airport expansion projects). All quotations are from a library copy of the FEIS in the library of the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs. Formal title: “Final Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Master Plan Update Development Actions at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (February 1996)”; cited in the form, [volume] FEIS [page number]


1. The [stated] purpose of the third runway was to alleviate arrival delays during certain poor-weather conditions (instrument flight rules) at the Airport.

Here are some representative quotes from the main text of the FEIS:

 “ … primary purpose would be to enable two separate arrival streams to Sea-Tac during poor and good weather” I FEIS I-17

 “ the proposed new parallel runway is needed to address existing poor weather 
 delays.” Response R-3-15, IV FEIS (Appendix R) R-35

 “The fundamental problem addressed by in this FEIS is the aircraft operational delays [sic] caused by the lack of dual approach procedures under certain weather conditions.” Response R-3-21B, IV FEIS (Appendix R) 

2. The use of third runway would be primarily for arrivals; departures would be a very small part of the use.

 “Because the proposed new dependant parallel runway is proposed to reduce poor weather delay, which is primarily arrival related, the runway would be expected to 
 be used primarily for arrivals. About 12.1 percent of arrivals in a south flow would occur on the new runway, with about 2.6 percent of departures.” I FEIS IV.1-1

From IV FEIS (Appendix R) R-44 ---

 Comment R-3-25 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggested that the 
proposed new runway be evaluated as a departure runway instead of as an arrival runway.

 Response: Inefficient airfield operations occur during poor weather conditions … 
  Although a third runway at Sea-Tac would primarily be used for arrivals, it would accommodate a limited number of departures during peak departure periods and other circumstances … usage of this runway for departure is expected to be less than 5 percent 
 of the year … .

From IV FEIS (Appendix R) R-71-2 ---

 Comment R-6-13: A number of commentors are concerned about the usage of the proposed third runway. … 

 Response: … the runway is expected to be used by 3.9% of all departures. … The use of the runway by a large number of departures would, however, defeat the purpose of its proposed construction by reducing its availability for arrivals. … .

 The average annualized daily number of operations projected to use the proposed new parallel runway with a length up to 8,500 feet are [sic] as follows:

  Year   Landings Takeoffs
  2000    80          20
  2010    86          22
  2020    93          24

[The authors of the FEIS assumed that the third runway would be completed & in operation by the year 2000.]

See also IV FEIS, R-10-15
See also II FEIS, App’x C, sec 3 (3) 1 (pp C-18-19) & Table C-20, p.C-48.

* * * * *

NOTE: This Fact Sheet does not include materials from other official sources, which consistently confirm that the third runway’s use would primarily be for arrivals from the north, in poor weather. We are not sure that this fact sheet includes all discussions of this topic in the FEIS. The structure of the FEIS resulted in particular issues being discussed in several different places, without cross-references. The FEIS does not contain a topical index.



© RCAA 2008, 2009
Most recent update: 8 i 09 -- discard earlier versions
I-08-3-03
Fact sheet no. 19 (rev.2)