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Alaska Airlines flight 674 was the first commercial operation on Sea-Tac's new third runway. The flight to Denver departed at approximately 3:47 p.m. On hand for the celebration were Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters, Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell, Alaska Airline CEO Bill Ayer, and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.
The new runway is designed to help decrease delays during low visibility conditions, which occur approximately 44 percent of the year. The third runway allows two streams of traffic to land in lower visibility conditions. Sea-Tac's other two runways are too close to each other to allow two streams of traffic to arrive in such conditions.
The runway is:
To pave the runway and the eight connecting taxiways, it required:
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Part of the mitigation program for the construction of the third runway is the restoration of Miller Creek to a natural environment. A major sign of success was videotaped for the first time since restoration was completed - spawning salmon returning to the creek. Watch a video of the new arrivals.