Pangborn Airport Making Upgrades Required For Upcoming Jet Service

Electrical upgrades will need to be made at Pangborn Airport to accommodate the new jet aircraft that'll be taking the place of the turbo-prop planes being phased out by Horizon Air. 

Chelan Douglas Port Authority Commissioners will need to approve the changes being made, even though the Port is not be paying for any of them. 

Chris Mansfield of T-O Engineers says the new Embraer E-175 jet has the same power requirements as a wide range of commercial aircraft, including the Boeing 737. 

"The 737 is not coming in the near future, but it's about equivalent to the E-175," said Mansfield. "So, both of those aircraft require more power than the Q-400, which is what we initially designed for." 

Port CEO Jim Kuntz thinks the power upgrade will serve the airport well if other jet aircraft end up serving Pangborn in the future. 

"I just want to make sure we're not here in two years from now saying 'Dang it, I wish we would have thought about X or Y,'" said Kuntz. "Sounds like this is three phases. Should be for a pretty wide range of aircraft." 

Mansfield said there it’s not known what electric aircraft would require from ground service equipment once the technology becomes more widely used. 

Kuntz said it was his understanding that electric planes would fly in and exchange one battery for another, rather than going through the process of recharging. 

TO Engineers attended a Port meeting Tuesday to discuss the needed electrical upgrades.  

Terminal Apron Reconstruction is required to upgrade power on the power racks it houses. 

Total cost for the project is $391,063.24, and is 90 percent paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Alaska Airlines, which owns and operates Horizon Air, will start serving Wenatchee with the jet service by the first week in December.