Airlines Opposed Construction Plans

There will be no new runway at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport... at least not for a long while. Officials announced late Thursday the project has been postponed indefinitely, due in part to public outcry against the plan.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, some 200 people showed up at a public meeting this week to protest the construction project, which would have involved rerouting a portion of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

"That shows remarkable good sense," said state Sen. Hollis French of the decision to oppose construction.

Despite claims of victory by local residents, however, hard economic realities may have played a larger role in the decision. Supporters of the plan were shocked Wednesday when a representative with Alaska Airlines announced 25 carriers opposed the new runway.

"The airlines oppose the development of a fourth runway because it is unnecessary and not affordable," read the statement. "It will have a negative impact on the economic vitality of the airport and the state of Alaska."

The airline says officials should instead consider routing more local cargo traffic to Fairbanks, to offset projected increases in passenger air traffic at ANC. Even supporters of the plan, including Airport Director Mort Plumb, acknowledged now may not be the time to add a new runway, given the tortured state of the domestic airline industry.

Expansion opponent Mark Wiggin is a member of the airport advisory committee that studied the expansion project. "And it only took me two or three meetings to feel like I wasn't being listened to," said Wiggin, president of the Turnagain Community Council. "To get to this part of the process and to hear (the airlines oppose the project), it's apparent everybody else felt like they weren't being listened to either."

Plumb doesn't know when the proposal might resurface again. "The bottom line is we are not going to build this without airline approval," he said.

FMI: www.dot.state.ak.us/anc/aiawlcm.html