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The Washington State Department of Transportation recently announced that King County International Airport – Boeing Field (KCIA) is one of six Electric Aircraft Beta Test Sites.
An excerpt from the notification letter:
While the ultimate deployment of electric aircraft will be driven by market and industry readiness, airports selected as beta test sites are expected to start incorporating electric aircraft into their planning processes. Beta test sites will also play an active role in building a market for such operations. As such, sponsor willingness to support electric aircraft was a critical decision-making factor during the selection process. Airports selected as beta test sites will partner with WSDOT Aviation and other electric aircraft stakeholders to take actionable steps to turn the “vision” of electric aircraft into reality. Expectations of beta test site airports include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Planning for and pursuing airside and landside infrastructure and service improvements to support electric aircraft and key high-potential use cases such as pilot training, regional commercial air service, business/recreational flying, and/or air cargo (as required)
- Participating in the Electric Aircraft Working Group (EAWG)
- Actively advocating for and championing electric aircraft at local and statewide levels
Funding is anticipated to come from a variety of sources including sponsor investment, public/private partnerships, and state grants and loans. Airports included in the NPIAS are also eligible to receive funding through the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP), although the need must be justified by aviation activities anticipated within five years.”
Other sites are:
- Spokane Felts Field
- Chehalis-Centralia Airport
- Yakima Air Terminal
- Grant County International Airport
- Olympia Regional Airport
Other airports in the region are undertaking their own planning efforts for adoption of electric aircraft and as such are also included as additional beta test sites in the study. These include Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the Pierce County Airports (Thun Field and Tacoma Narrows).
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This Cessna Grand Caravan was converted to electric propulsion by magniX, a Seattle-based company that has developed a line of electric motors designed to replace conventional fossil-fuel-burning engines in small propeller-driven aircraft. Several other companies around the world are also vying to build electric aircraft that could one day reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially lower noise levels near airports. Photo courtesy magniX.
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One thing COVID-19 can’t stop this year: Santa!
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For residents with noise complaints, as well as for airport noise management staff, noise reporting has improved in the last few months. In August, King County International Airport – Boeing Field launched a new noise management system, PlaneNoise, to collect, manage, and track aircraft noise reports from the public.
“Before, we did not have a noise management system,” said Alyssa Dean, who serves as an airport duty manager and is also the primary employee assigned to manage noise complaints. “Someone would make a complaint. Sometimes it would take me two to three weeks to get back to them, and sometimes they would send 10 more complaints in that time.”
Now, with PlaneNoise, things are better. People with noise complaints get an automatic message that their issue is being addressed. That helps stop the repeated complaints.
“Within a one-week window of a noise complaint I investigate it and respond,” Dean said.
Then in October, the airport began a noise management partnership with the FAA.
“They improved their system, we improved ours, now the FAA and KCIA can better coordinate with each other,” Dean said. “They are partnering with airports to make sure all of our communication lines are open. The FAA is addressing noise complaints that need immediate attention and sharing their responses with us,” she said.
The bar chart at left shows that the majority of noise complaints come from Vashon Island, followed by Seattle and Burien.
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Some of the noise complaints originally sent to KCIA are planes landing at SeaTac. With KCIA, SeaTac and Paine Field now using the same system, it’s easier to share information and collect good data.
"It's important for us, SeaTac and Paine Field to have the same noise management software so the systems can all talk to each other,” Dean said.
Another tool, PublicVue, allows community members to track flights and enter comments using the same technology used by Dean and others at various airports.
“I encourage people to come and look here if they can, but I still investigate the flight afterward to see if they (pilots) are following the rules and regulations,” Dean said.
“We’ve seen our noise complaints slightly decrease because a lot of it is just not knowing what aircraft is in the area,” Dean said.
There are many benefits to the new system, including information about where the noise complaints are coming from.
“It’s really good data that we never had before,” Dean said. The end result helps members of the community, with quicker responses to complaints and routing complaints to the proper airport, if necessary.
“It’s helping us really be organized and give our constituents the proper responses that they’re expecting,” Dean said.
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 The map above shows where noise complaints originate.
With the busy holiday season around the corner, UPS is finishing up the first phase of its major construction. The project includes a new ramp, replacing three asphalt gates with concrete, and a state-of-the-art caster deck. The deck has caster wheels on it, allowing UPS to push containers straight to the sort facility from the cargo plane.
“They will use both the new ramp and the remaining gates until after the peak season,” said Matt Sykora, Properties and Business Development Administrator. “Once their peak season is over in mid-January they will begin construction on the remaining parking areas and a state of the art sort building.”
The entire project, which also includes repaving existing ramps, is anticipated to open in November 2021.
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Did you know that 2.4 miles of fence winds around the airport’s 600 acres? And fences, along with gates, need to be replaced periodically to ensure airport security.
In the first phase of a program to replace the entire fence, the airport will be replacing about 1,120 linear feet of fencing on the northwest corner of the airport, shown at right.
“The fence is in poor condition and it’s reached the end of its life,” said Raleigh Salazar, project delivery manager.
The new polyvinyl fence will be eight feet tall with one foot of barbed wire on top. It will stretch from near the airport maintenance shop, along Elizabeth Street, Ellis Avenue, South Albro Place and part of South Hardy Street. The segment along Hardy Street, nearly 160 linear feet, will have additional horizontal beams to support a future public art project. Art, facing toward the street, will be installed next summer.
The initial fence replacement is anticipated to take place in December and January.
“There’s more to come as we move all the way around the airport,” Salazar said.
Design for the rest of the fence replacement project will begin early next year, with a request for bids by mid-2021 and installation in the third quarter next year.
In addition, the project will replace gates and motorized gate openers.
Adjoining property owners replace fences along their property; Boeing has already replaced a significant amount of fencing on their side of the airport.
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The airport recently held its required annual emergency tabletop exercise (on Zoom due to COVID-19). The exercise was designed to ensure that all agencies that would respond to an airport emergency know the airport emergency plan and incident procedures, including roles of various agencies. With at least 10 agencies potentially involved in a major incident, the tabletop was part of an overall effort to ensure emergency preparedness at the airport. The exercise also helped staff get familiar with new standardized aircraft incident response procedures for South King County. In addition, the F.B.I. attended and presented their evidence response team brief.
This year’s exercise included a crash scenario that affected employees near the Boeing ramp. Participants discussed potential issues in the rescue and recovery, as well as implications for communications.
Thanks to Aaron Ison, Justin Julian and Kirk Rains for developing the scenario and to everyone who participated.
Photo above, ARFF firefighters at an earlier exercise at KCIA.
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The Employee Giving Campaign is winding down and airport employees have been a significant part of this year’s success. Overall, the Department of Executive Services exceeded its participation goal, reaching 27%, beating last year’s rate of 25%. That means Caroline Whalen got pied!
The airport stands at 33.3% participation, just shy of last year’s 35% rate. While PeopleSoft is no longer accepting payroll deduction pledges, you can still turn in a paper form for payroll deduction until Dec. 18. That means director John Parrott may not have escaped the pie-ing yet…
Want to see Caroline Whalen and others get pied? You’re invited to the DES Giving Campaign Celebration on Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. via Zoom. All staff received an invitation via Outlook. If you didn’t get one and would like to participate, please contact Ellen Knowlen or Barbara Ramey and they can forward you the invite.
Thanks to Ellen Knowlen and Lorenzo Stubbs, below, for serving as airport ambassadors for the Employee Giving Campaign.
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