Future Yakima Airport Might Have Five Gates, Restaurant and Larger Baggage Claim Area
Aug. 24—An expanded, two-story passenger terminal with five gates, larger baggage claim area and restored second-floor restaurant could be coming in the next decade at the Yakima Air Terminal.
Airport Director Rob Hodgman discussed renovation plans, the need and use of federal money and an update on Yakima's potential as a Washington air travel hub at Tuesday night's Yakima City Council meeting.
The terminal modernization project, as Hodgman called it, would have three main phases:
—An upgrade to existing building systems (such as the roof, electrical, water, sewer, fire suppression, telecommunications and HVAC), followed by renovation and expansion of the second floor.
—Additions to the east wing to expand passenger access, build a new baggage claim area and restore the second-floor restaurant.
—A new west wing to expand passenger access, baggage screening, air cargo capacity and house a new airport administration office.
Council member Patricia Byers said she recently toured the building, including the outdated gas lines, pipes and electrical system of its communications center and basement, and said it is obvious an upgrade is needed.
"I was honestly shocked when I saw the communications center and 'the dungeon'," Byers added. "But we have good bones in the building. Just to be able to remodel and upgrade it and make it the terminal we'd like it to be is a great opportunity."
Hodgman told council members that Congress provided $5 million in both 2022 and 2023 for design and construction of the airport terminal, but Federal Aviation Administration guidelines would better suit renovation of the existing airport terminal over building a completely new facility.
He also said the $10 million, along with additional $2 million allocations from the federal Airport Improvement Program and bipartisan Infrastructure Law, would only pay for the first phase of the terminal modernization project.
An additional $40 million would be needed to complete phases two and three, and these could be obtained through the federal Airport Terminal Program, which is specifically targeted toward replacing aging airport infrastructure, Hodgman said. However, other airports across Washington state also are trying to receive funding through the program.
"There are several other, larger airports in the state that would score better (in funding considerations)," Hodgman said, adding that funds for phases two and three of terminal expansion would not be available until 2028 at the earliest.
He said the next application period for federal funding begins this fall, and the airport already hosted and provided tours for representatives from U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse and Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray in late July and early August.
Work on the first part of phase one (updates to the terminal's roof and existing building systems) should start in the late spring and early summer of next year, Hodgman said.
The terminal originally was built in the 1950s and received renovations in 1968 and 1997-2000, Hodgman added. An airport master plan completed in 2015 found multiple areas that fall short of modern standards and "are approaching the end of their useful life," he said.
Shuttle flights
Hodgman also said YKM is in negotiations with Dash Air Shuttle, a new company that is establishing small shuttle flights to Northwest communities within 200 miles of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The company, based in Port Angeles, is proposing four flights a week between Yakima and either Boeing Field or the Signature Flight Support area of Sea-Tac, Hodgman said. Dash Air uses a nine-passenger Cessna 402.
The size of the aircraft is similar to Hodgman's proposal to use Eviation Alice electric aircraft to bring passengers to Yakima from across the state to help relieve current and future overcrowding at Sea-Tac airport.
His plan, first presented in April to the Washington State Transportation Commission, would use electric-powered aircraft to bring people from elsewhere in the state to Yakima. Those passengers would board larger airplanes at an expanded Yakima airport to travel to their destinations across the country.
"(Dash Air) would provide proof of concept — that yes, this idea of distributed air service actually works, and people want to do this," Hodgman told the council.
The possibility of using Yakima as a hub for statewide air passengers arose after a state commission faced strong opposition to its three finalist sites in Pierce and Thurston counties for an airport to relieve overcrowding at Sea-Tac airport.
Other updates
It's been a busy five months since Hodgman began his job as Yakima's airport director in mid-March.
Earlier this summer, the City Council approved an agreement with Alaska Airlines to restore daily early-morning outbound and late-night inbound flights between Yakima and Sea-Tac. The city, county and more than a dozen Yakima Valley businesses and individuals pledged their support to provide a $500,000 minimum revenue guarantee fund required by the airline to restore the flights.
The flights, operated by Alaska subsidiary Horizon Air, are on the Alaska Airlines online schedule with departures at 5 a.m. (outbound) and 11:10 p.m. (inbound) beginning Nov. 17. There are also midday flights between Yakima and SeaTac, with one in each direction.
When the City Council approved the $125,000 in ARPA money for the air service development fund on May 16, Yakima Assistant City Manager Rosylen Oglesby said the $500,000 is an "overage" fund to cover costs and potential losses of re-establishing the flight over the next year.
City Manager Bob Harrison and City Attorney Sara Watkins noted that if Alaska/Horizon does not need any of the $500,000 for that purpose, or only uses part of the guarantee money, it would either be returned to donors on a prorated basis or could be used toward additional flights in the future.
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