Do you want more noise? By ignoring Renton airport we can get it.

May 2010, Councilmembers Palmer and Corman join Mayor Denis Law and Boeing officials in extending Boeing’s Renton airport lease for another 40 years. Union leaders and state officials are in attendance.

Here’s a recipe for more noise in our community.  Standby while Boeing begins pulling out of our Renton airport.  Then watch idly as the FAA enforces federal policy at our airport, and begins pressing for relocation of freight and business jet activity from Boeing Field to Renton. Any talk of airport closure will be met by FAA reminding Renton the airport is “Federally Obligated” and was paid for by the federal government; Renton reaffirmed its obligation with every grant that was accepted.  FAA would point to their 700-page FAA Order 5190 6 b, which is summarized in bold italics on page 1-4 “Airports should be permanent with assurance that they will remain open for aeronautical use over the long term.”  

Regardless of how you currently feel about Renton’s airport, this issue is important to you.

Two events this week bring the topic of our airport to the forefront: news that Boeing will begin assembling some 737 airplanes outside of Renton for the first time,  and the Puget Sound region is back to square one looking for new airport space.

We would do well to appreciate and protect the fine balance we’ve achieved at our airport.  Two quiet 737 takeoffs per day bring about two-hundred-million dollars per day into our community.  The rest of the airport space is filled by a community of general aviation and Seaplane operators, with strong roots in Renton.  These users also provide Renton jobs and generally have a good history of voluntarily abiding by community-requested noise guidelines even though they are not strictly enforceable.

While the airport still generates occasional complaints, Renton has enjoyed a mostly amicable coexistence between residents and the airport business community over the last two decades.  But it has taken the balance and reflexes of a wing-walker to maintain this relationship. Ongoing adjustments have been made by the Renton Airport Advisory Committee (RAAC).  This committee, chartered by Mayor Jess Tanner after a new Jet Center proposal divided our community, has provided two decades of prosperity and relative peace at our airport.  The Committee succeeded in their work by building strong interpersonal relationships between RAAC members representing airport users, and other members representing affected neighborhoods. Regrettably, RAAC meetings have been missed or cancelled too often in recent months, and the long-term vision of the airport is getting less focussed.

RAAC performed admirably four years ago when the FAA tentatively reclassified Renton field, and began pushing Renton to extend the runway by 2000 feet (which would have extended into downtown).  That effort was only stopped when the RAAC rallied Renton elected officials. Partnering with airport businesses we hired attorneys to challenge the FAA decision. We won that round, but just barely, and possibly only because the pandemic slowed down aviation enough for FAA to reconsider.

If you don’t like airplane noise, even if Renton airport somehow closed, there’s no guarantee your Renton home would get quieter.  Without Renton airport, Boeing Field and SeaTac flight patterns could potentially change, and we could end up with even more noise.  So our current situation is pretty good.

Right now the RAAC and Renton elected officials should be banding together to maintain our economic prosperity and the good balance we’ve achieved at the the airport.  First and foremost, we should be rallying to convince the Boeing company to keep the epicenter of 737 production right here where it began, and to make Renton the preferred location when Boeing eventually replaces it.  We are after all the place where commercial jet transportation began, and we should not let go of that.  In 2010 with great fanfare we signed a 20 year lease with Boeing, that included a potential 20-year extension. We should also be working to further empower the RAAC to strengthen partnering between the community and airport operators.  This is a formula that worked for Renton in the past and will work for us in the future.

Renton council members are facing numerous challenges and distractions right now.  They only meet as a full council a few hours a month, and they need to carve out time in their schedule to focus on issues like our airport, something that works now but could become a big problem if we ignore it.