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Editorial: Region must prepare to land tanker at Fairchild

Wed., Feb. 24, 2016

The U.S. Air Force and Boeing Co. are moving methodically through the testing of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker. When it’s ready, Spokane must be ready, too.

Recently, Fairchild Air Force Base was again placed on the short list of bases under consideration for the Pegasus, which will replace a fleet of decades-old KC-135s kept flight-worthy by mechanics who must work magic some days.

The new tanker will carry more fuel and have the capability to fuel multiple aircraft simultaneously. After months of delays, the first successful refueling test occurred last month.

Fairchild lost out to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas when the Air Force made its initial choice of bases for the KC-46A. Though the decision was deflating, local officials have not let the Pentagon take its eyes off the West Plains.

But there is much work to do, primarily securing the base’s perimeter.

The biggest concern is the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino resort, which the U.S. Department of Interior approved in June. The Air Force was noncommittal throughout that phase of the process. However, local government officials fear the project’s lighting and location will interfere with a loop pilots use to practice takeoffs and landings. There are also concerns casino patrons will complain about the noise.

Tribal officials have said both arguments are straw men; the real source of opposition is downtown businesses fearful of competition for entertainment and shopping dollars.

Gov. Jay Inslee will make the final decision. He has 18 months to do so, which, conveniently, puts the deadline past the November election.

In the meantime, the state Department of Commerce and Eastern Washington University are preparing another study of the compatibility of all Washington bases with the military’s shift of focus to Asia. It is scheduled for completion in November.

The casino has also attracted attention by West Side tribes and officials. The former because they do not want new casinos cannibalizing revenues at existing casinos, as the Spokanes’ project would do at Northern Quest; the latter because they do not want the way open to more off-reservation gaming.

Locally, the county must find a way to remove about 300 mobile homes from an “accident potential zone.” Voters in 2013 rejected a levy lift that would have raised up to $20 million to pay for resettlement of the occupants.

But with $2.5 million from the Legislature, the county plans to begin purchasing the homes and buy land where low-income housing could be constructed by a nonprofit agency to house the former mobile home residents.

That sounds like a good plan. To put the KC-46A in Fairchild’s future, the governor will need one, too.

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