Proposals by Southwest and Alaska airlines to move flights from Sea-Tac International Airport to Boeing Field have split former allies in the long battle over the third runway.

Tukwila city leaders, who fear increased noise and traffic, are opposing the requests, while officials from former fellow Airport Communities Coalition (ACC) member Des Moines are remaining neutral.

Des Moines and Burien, another ex-ACC member, are developing economic development projects around the airport in partnership with the Port of Seattle, operators of the Sea-Tac airport.

Normandy Park, Federal Way and the Highline School District also belonged to the ACC. The since-disbanded group engaged in an often-bitter legal battle with the Port over construction of the additional runway.

Meanwhile, two other anti-runway groups continue to blast the Port concerning the latest airport controversy.

The Normandy Park-based Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA) has issued a lengthy press release supporting Southwest Airlines' proposal to leave Sea-Tac.

And Brett Fish, chairman of Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion (CASE), labels as "poppycock" a suggestion that delays and legal expenses caused by the anti-third runway opposition forced the Port to spend so much money that Southwest says it cannot afford to stay.

At the Oct. 5 CASE meeting, King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson (D-SeaTac) said she currently opposes Southwest's proposal.

"I assume I have disappointed some old friends in this room," Patterson declared. "But, I don't want other communities to experience the same pain and injustice as this community suffered for 15 years."

Patterson is running in new council District 5 against Republican Orin Wells in the Nov. 8 general election.

She noted that her newly configured council district has given her different constituents.

Normandy Park and Burien are no longer in her district but she has added all of Des Moines. She has also gained Tukwila, Renton and Kent.

In July, Southwest proposed moving its flight operations to Boeing Field and pledged to build a $130 million terminal with eight gates.

Last week, Alaska reiterated that airlines should not move from Sea-Tac. However, Alaska officials said if Southwest were allowed to abandon Sea-Tac, they would have to move some flights to Boeing.

Alaska offered to build a $150 million terminal with eight gates at Boeing Field.

The two proposals combined call for building 16 gates to handle 128 flights per day. Eventually, the total number of flights proposed could reach 185.

However, county staffers say Boeing Field could only handle 130 new flights a day out of 13 gates.

Tukwila council members have sent a letter to county council members expressing their opposition to the Southwest proposal.

Southwest representatives are scheduled to plead their case before Tukwila lawmakers on Oct. 17.

According to Tukwila City Administrator Rhonda Berry, adding more commercial flights at Boeing has "a lot of negative impact and nothing positive."

She said Tukwila residents worry about the increased noise from overhead flights.

Although Southwest has pledged to use quieter planes, "quiet is relative," Berry observed. "They are not quiet when you are sitting out on your patio having a conversation."

She added that Tukwila's leaders are also concerned about who would bear the brunt of improving access roads to Boeing Field.

Des Moines, Tukwila's former anti-third runway ally, plans to remain neutral in the controversy, according to Mayor Bob Sheckler.

City Manager Tony Piasecki reports Port officials have assured him they will go ahead with plans to jointly develop with the city a site in Des Moines.

Port commissioners will soon select a consultant to design an economic development project for the parcel, according to Piasecki.

Recalling the third-runway fight, ex-ACC chairman Sheckler admits Tukwila's new battle "seems like deja vu."

Stuart Creighton, another former ACC chairman, is definitely not neutral in the dispute between Southwest and the Port.

And he insists that his support for Southwest's proposed move is not influenced by his wife's role as Boeing Field's spokeswoman.

"It has nothing to do with Boeing Field," Creighton said. "My points have to do with what's going on at Sea-Tac."

The culprit in Southwest's proposal is "over-the-top spending" on Sea-Tac's expansion by Port commissioners, according to Creighton.

The Port's spending combined with the airlines' economic woes is a "recipe for disaster," he maintains.

The cost of Sea-Tac's new main terminal is more than the cost of either of Seattle's new sports stadiums or the total cost of some new airports, Creighton added.

A loss of 30 to 50 flights out of 1,000 flights a day at Sea-Tac won't hurt economic development in the former ACC cities of Des Moines and Burien, Creighton stated.

He also dismisses charges that the legal battles against the runway are responsible for the higher expansion costs.

Creighton estimates the extra costs for lawsuits and added environmental mitigation only added $150-$250 million to the $5 billion expansion costs.

CASE chairman Brett Fish charges that Port officials initially understated the runway's true cost. A runway that at first was supposed to cost $175 million is now estimated to cost $1.1 billion, he said.

Fish also blames Alaska Airlines for pushing for the runway and other expansions.

With Port officials saying they will have to cut $550 million in spending, Fish wonders where the economic development money for Des Moines and Burien will come from.

He also maintains that the Port's proposed economic partnerships with Des Moines and Burien were a "smokescreen to get the cities to drop their swords" in the third runway fight.

CASE is a citizens' organization that opposes Sea-Tac expansion.

Larry Corvari, RCAA chairman, says he is not worried about the loss of economic opportunities for Sea-Tac's neighboring cities if Southwest leaves.

"Around airports, there is always economic vitality," Corvari observed.

If Sea-Tac loses Southwest, which accounts for eight percent of the airport's flights, Sea-Tac will quickly gain back and even add to the number of flights from other airlines, Corvari predicted.

The RCAA describes itself as a non-partisan citizens' group involved in regional air-transportation planning.

Eric Mathison can be reached at hteditor@robinsonnews.com or 444-4873.