Kaplan Kirsch has represented Snohomish County, Washington, in suburban Seattle for more than a decade on airport regulatory, noise, and development matters. That relationship began in the mid-2000s, when an airline first approached the County about building a new passenger terminal to introduce passenger airline service at Paine Field. The Firm represented the County in preparing the federal environmental documentation, later assisting in the successful defense of an environmental assessment (EA) in federal court, and in negotiating with carriers introduction of commercial service.
From there, the Firm led the County’s negotiations with Propeller Airports on its proposal for a public-private partnership covering the development, construction, financing, and operation of the new passenger terminal. At the request of both the County and Propeller Airports, the Firm then shifted to represent Propeller Airports in its successful negotiations among carriers and other terminal service providers and in securing the federal approvals necessary for the new terminal to proceed.
Kaplan Kirsch’s advisory work extended across several related tracks:
- Negotiating the lease for a commercial terminal operator
- Developing a plan for aeronautical and quasi-aeronautical use of vacant parcels at the airport
- Negotiating among competing bidders for airfield access and commercial development opportunities
- Coordinating the broader strategy for introducing commercial service at Paine Field, including securing FAA approvals, addressing changes to airline operations specifications, and conducting environmental reviews both for operational changes and for the terminal development itself
The Firm continues to advise the County on this unique P3 procurement, along with related environmental reviews and litigation tied to developing a private terminal at a public-use airport.
The terminal opened in March 2019 with 24 flights from two carriers serving destinations across the western United States, and the entire terminal was fully subscribed on opening day. The project was an early and notable example of a U.S. airport proprietor contracting out a privately designed, built, financed, operated, and maintained passenger terminal. Other national airports have privately developed terminals, but Snohomish County was the first to assign the private sector responsibility for the commercial passenger terminal function of an entire airport, making Paine Field a distinctive model for airport public-private partnerships.
