Tri-Cities Airport at Night (May 31, 2016)

Tri-Cities Airport (originally Pasco Airport) is a public airport in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Franklin County, Washington Franklin County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 96,749. The county seat and largest city is Pasco, Washington, ...

. Located northwest of Pasco, it serves the

Tri-Cities metropolitan area The Kennewick–Pasco–Richland metropolitan area—colloquially referred to as the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, and officially known as the Kennewick–Richland, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area—is a Metropolitan statistical area, metropolit ...

in southeast

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, and is the third largest commercial airport in the state. The facility has three runways and covers .

History

The Tri-Cities Airport (originally Pasco Airport) was the site of the first airmail contract flight between

Elko, Nevada Elko (Shoshoni: Natakkoa, "Rocks Piled on One Another") is the largest city in and county seat of Elko County, Nevada, United States. With a 2020 population of 20,564, Elko is currently growing at a rate of 0.31% annually and its population has i ...

, and

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 59,781 at the 2010 census, and 75,432 as of the July 1, 2019 Census Bureau estimate. Pasco is one of three cities (the others b ...

, made by

Varney Airlines Varney Air Lines was an airline company that started service on April 6, 1926, as an air-mail carrier. Formed by Walter Varney, the airline was based in Boise, Idaho, United States. The airline is one of the predecessors of United Airlines. H ...

, (later

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

) in 1926. The airport was relocated to its present site and became known as the Franklin County Airport; the U.S. Navy built

Naval Air Station Pasco Naval Air Station Pasco was a United States Navy air station located 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Pasco, in Franklin County, Washington, USA. After the war, it was redeveloped into Tri-Cities Airport. One of its auxiliary airfields became V ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, the Navy sold the field to the city of Pasco, but retained training privileges. Several Navy aircraft, especially the

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

with Douglas DC-9s,

Cascade Airways Cascade Airways was an airline in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States which flew primarily regional air routes out of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1969, it operated for 17 years and shut do ...

with BAC One-Elevens,

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

with Boeing 727-200s and 737-300s,

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and N ...

with Boeing 727-200s, 737-200s, and 737-300s,

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

with 737-200s,

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

(PSA) with BAe 146-200s,

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...

with Boeing 727s,

Horizon Air Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is an American regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon-opera ...

with Fokker F-28s, and

West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was an airline (then called a "local service" airline as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California ...

with DC-9s. Currently, scheduled passenger flights are mostly regional jet and

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

, although Allegiant Air operates Airbus A319s/320s, Delta operates Airbus A319s/320s and Boeing 717s, and Avelo operates Boeing 737s.

, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, currently uses a mix of Bombardier

Q400 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

turboprop aircraft, and E-175 jets at Tri-Cities, but has announced plans to transition to all E-175 jets by the end of 2023. An expansion and remodel project took place in 1986 that included access roads, parking lots, aircraft parking apron and more than doubling the size of the terminal. In 2003, the airport underwent another expansion and remodel that added an additional to the ticket lobby and boarding area. In 2014, the Port of Pasco approved a $42 million renovation and expansion, planning to double the size of the terminal. The construction began in August 2014 and finished in January 2017. The first phase of the expansion was completed on September 7, 2015, which included a new west concourse with gates 3, 4 and 5 as well as new car rental and baggage claim areas. The second phase started shortly thereafter, planning to demolish the old boarding area and replace it with a new east concourse to house gates 1 and 2. On January 27, 2017, the $42 million airport renovation and expansion, which added a new terminal, security area and

baggage handling system A baggage handling system (BHS) is a type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage from ticket counters to areas where the bags can be loaded onto airplanes. A BHS also transports checked baggage coming from airplan ...

was officially opened to the public. The new terminal is intended to meet the needs of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area for the next 20 years, with passenger enplanements/deplanements in 2019 reaching a new high of 870,900.

Current use

The airport's terminal at the south end of the field is the property of the Port of Pasco, at the north end of North 20th Avenue. Firefighting, however, is handled by the City of Pasco. A new fire station has recently been built on the terminal grounds. The old Navy station buildings on the north end of the airport are being used by other firms. The airport is undergoing a major resurfacing of the runways, funded by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Major tenants and commercial activity

General and corporate aviation are important to PSC and they have many facilities to accommodate them. The airport has over 120 based aircraft that belong to business and general aviation operators. T-hangars are available on the airport and two FBOs offer fuel and other services, Bergstrom Aircraft Inc. and Tri-Cities Aviation. The airport has two aircraft sales companies on the field: JD Aircraft Sales and Viper Aircraft Corp; both also offer storage. PSC also has commercial air traffic. The airport is served by the regional affiliates of several major airlines such as Alaska and United. Delta Air Lines, Avelo Airlines and Allegiant Air operate mainline jets at present. Delta Air Lines flies Skywest E175s as well as Airbus A319s/A320s, Avelo Airlines operates Boeing 737s, with Allegiant Air flying Airbus 320s. Alaska Airlines, operated by Horizon Air, currently flies Bombardier Q400 aircraft on some services being replaced with E175s.

Empire Airlines Empire Airlines is a passenger and cargo airline based in Hayden, Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene. It operates over 120 scheduled cargo flights a day in 18 US states and Canada. Empire also started passenger service within Hawaii, under the name "Oha ...

operates FedEx Feeder also to the airport from Spokane Intl (GEG). The FedEx facility on the field goes through of inbound cargo daily. Empire Airlines usually operates ATR-42s and Cessna 208 Caravans, and also ATR-72s during higher cargo volume periods. The FedEx facility is a major source of revenue for the community and they are planning to expand their facilities at PSC in the near future. In the year ending December 31, 2018, the airport had 48,211 aircraft operations, average 132 per day: 67%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, 19%

air carrier An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

, 9%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

, and 5% military. At the time 121 aircraft were based at PSC, 80 single engine, 23 multi engine, 14 jet and 4

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic

Top destinations

Airline market share

Accidents and incidents

*On June 20, 1969, a

Beechcraft Model 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier B ...

operated by ''Cascade Airways'', bound for

Spokane International Airport Spokane International Airport is a commercial airport located approximately west-southwest of downtown Spokane, Washington, United States. It is the primary airport serving the Inland Northwest, which consists of 30 counties and includes areas ...

, pitched up steeply after takeoff, lost control and crashed. The probable causes were the pitch trim was found in the full nose up position and the captain's seat was unlocked and fully aft. Both occupants died. *On December 19, 1989, a

British Aerospace Jetstream The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British ...

operated by

North Pacific Airlines North Pacific Airlines (NPA) was a commuter air carrier formed in 1987 which operated scheduled passenger service on behalf United Airlines via a code sharing agreement as a United Express carrier initially from the Seattle–Tacoma Internationa ...

on behalf of

United Express Flight 2415 United Express Flight 2415 was a regularly scheduled flight in the northwest United States from Seattle to Pasco, Washington, operated using a BAe Jetstream 31. Late on Tuesday, December 26, 1989, Flight 2415 crashed while attempting to land at ...

, a domestic scheduled passenger flight inbound from

Yakima Air Terminal McAllister Field (known for the Yakima Air Terminal) is a public airport three miles south of Yakima, in Yakima County, Washington. Owned by the City of Yakima, it is used for general aviation and commercial air service. Yakima is served by one s ...

, crashed on an

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) approach to PSC 400 feet short of runway 21. Ice buildup and an unstabilized approach were the probable causes. All four passengers and two crew were killed. * On September 20, 2022, a

Cessna 525B CitationJet CJ3 The Cessna CitationJet/CJ/M2 (also known as the Model 525) are a series of light business jets built by Cessna, and are part of the Citation family. Launched in October 1989, the first flight of the Model 525 was on April 29, 1991. Federal Avi ...

owned and operated by Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute inbound from

Chehalis, WA Chehalis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Washington. The population was 7,439 at the time of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1883, Chehalis was primarily a logging and railroad town, with a shift towards farming in the m ...

with 10 people aboard caught fire after landing on runway 03L. As of November 25, 2022, the accident is under investigation, but preliminary information indicates that the plane caught fire after a

gear-up landing A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term ''gear-up landing'' refers to incidents in which the pilot ...

. All 10 people evacuated and no injuries were reported, but the plane was written off.

References

External links

* *

WSDOT The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...

Pilot's Guide
Tri-Cities
* WSDOT Economic Impacts
Tri-Cities Airport
* * {{Airports in Washington Airports in Washington (state) Tri-Cities, Washington Pasco, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Franklin County, Washington Airports established in 1926 1926 establishments in Washington (state)