Commentary: Pullman airport working to rise above the fog

The headaches of reaching Boise from north central Idaho by air turned to migraines recently when the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport experienced a rash of cancellations caused by fog.

A total of 14, or one quarter of scheduled Pullman-Seattle flights — a local connection to Boise — either didn’t land or depart the last full week in January. Weather continued to plague the airport last week, with another 14 cancellations by Thursday.

As many as 2,128 passengers were affected, and many couldn’t just book the next flight because aircraft were already running full, said Tony Bean, airport manager.

“Fog in January has been higher than normal that I have seen over the years I have been here,” he said.

Moscow City Council members were stuck. So were both the University of Idaho and Washington State University men’s basketball teams, which, unlike the football teams, don’t use charters.

The hassles they experienced were exactly what people predicted would happen when Alaska Airlines chose last year to withdraw the service of its subsidiary, Horizon Air, from Lewiston. Horizon had direct Lewiston flights to Boise and Seattle. The Boise flights were of particular importance to north central Idaho, especially this time of year when the state’s legislature is in session.

Lewiston still has commercial flights to and from Salt Lake City through SkyWest, but the region lacks direct Boise service.

Pullman airport officials are doing everything they can in the short and long term to improve the situation.

For the first time ever, the Pullman airport invested $20,000 this year in chemicals to remove ice from the runway, giving snow removal crews another tool.

That has enabled more than five flights to proceed that otherwise would have been grounded, Bean said.

The Pullman airport’s new, longer $142.5 million runway and an instrumentation landing system that’s expected to debut this October should further mitigate the problems. Paid for mostly with federal money, the infrastructure will allow pilots to land in conditions that are too hazardous now.

Pilots have to be able to see the runway from 375 feet in elevation and 1 mile away now, and if they can’t, they aren’t permitted to touch down. That window can be as small as about one-quarter mile and 100 feet when the upgrade is complete.

Plus, Pullman plans to experiment with some technology already in use in Missoula that could literally change the weather. Liquid carbon dioxide can be forced through a nozzle in temperatures between about 28 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit when fog typically forms. Doing so makes it cold enough that the fog turns to snow.

The airport has experimented with the technology previously, but it didn’t work when it needed to go 400 feet into the air. At about 100 feet, it could make a difference.

“It’s a rudimentary technology, but people don’t think about it,” Bean said.

Even though the situation should improve dramatically next year, cancellations won’t go away entirely.

Some solutions that might seem to make sense aren’t possible. Planes bound for Pullman, for example, can’t land in Lewiston because the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport has no Horizon Air ground crew.

Adding to the already complicated logistics of air travel in the area, airlines typically do not issue vouchers for food or lodging when passengers’ itineraries change because of weather or other acts of God. Amid the very real aggravation passengers face in those situations, Bean said it’s important to remember everything airline and airport officials do has the singular goal of keeping the public safe.

“You don’t take chances with other people’s lives, health and welfare,” he said.

Ann Johnson, a spokeswoman for Alaska, echoed Bean.

“In the case of a weather cancellation, we work to rebook guests as quickly as we can, weather permitting,” she said in an email. “The safety of our crew and guests is our top priority.”

Williams is the business editor for the Tribune. She may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.