Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport (PUW) — Local services in Pullman

Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport (IATA: PUW, ICAO: KPUW, FAA LID: PUW) is a public airport in the northwest United States, located in Whitman County, Washington, two miles (3 km) east of Pullman and four miles (6 km) west of Moscow, Idaho. The airport is accessed via spurs from State Route 270, and has a single 7,101-foot (2,164 m) runway, headed northeast/southwest (5/23), which entered service in October 2019. The former runway (6/24) was 6,730 feet (2,051 m) and aligned with Moscow Mountain (4,983 feet (1,519 m)) twelve miles (20 km) to the northeast, the highest summit in the area.

The rural airport in the Palouse region is the primary air link for its two land-grant universities, Washington State University in Pullman and the University of Idaho in Moscow.[4] Both universities use the airport for jet charters from Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Allegiant Air for their intercollegiate athletic teams.

Aviation at the site began in the 1920s as a grass strip, which was later improved by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA); the runway was first paved in 1946.

Horizon Air (marketed and sold as Alaska Airlines) is the sole commercial airline serving the airport, flying Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft. It began limited service to Pullman–Moscow 39 years ago in December 1981 with Fairchild F-27 aircraft (Friday & Sunday), and daily service (along with Lewiston) in March 1983, on F-27 and Metroliner aircraft. Horizon Air offers 4-5 daily scheduled flights to Seattle/Tacoma. Historically, flight schedules have sometimes included a stop in Lewiston, but currently all scheduled flights at PUW are nonstop to/from Seattle.

Prior to Horizon, Cascade Airways (1969–1986) was the main carrier at the airport, starting Palouse service in late 1971. United Express operated at Pullman–Moscow for over two years, from May 1988 to September 1990.

Seattle air traffic control, 250 miles (400 km) west, manages commercial traffic for the airport. The nearest major airport is Spokane International, ninety miles (145 km) north.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized the airport as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.

Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport covers an area of 467 acres (1.89 km2) at an elevation of 2,567 feet (782 m) above sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 5/23, which measures 7,101 by 100 feet (2,164 m × 30 m). The airport was annexed by the City of Pullman in August 1988,[12] and the present terminal opened in February 1990 at a cost of $2.7 million, with a formal dedication and airshow in May. A new and significantly larger terminal is expected in the early 2020s.

The modest commercial terminal is a single large room, divided between pre- and post-security areas by a single security checkpoint and glass walls. The waiting area occupies all space beyond the checkpoint but is not commonly used for waiting, as most passengers pass through the security checkpoint immediately before boarding. Both passenger gates are ground-level doors to the tarmac; passengers board via the fold-down aircraft-door stairs, or airstairs (for larger charter aircraft). Gate 1 on the east side of the terminal is used by Horizon Air.

The public airport shares the runway with a fixed-base operator, Interstate Aviation, which conducts chartered air service and flight school. Local engineering firm Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. owns and operates private hangars at the airport.

For the 12-month period ending January 1, 2014, the airport had 29,350 aircraft operations, an average of 80 per day: 85% general aviation, 14% scheduled commercial, 1% air taxi, and

We arrived almost exactly 40 minutes before take off. We understand they have staffing issues and it’s company policy to cut off checkin 40 minutes before, but we had checked in online prior so figured it was ok. What I have an issue with is the incredibly rude nature of one of the employees there. We walked in and the blonde woman at the counter yelled loudly to the room “SHE CANNOT GET ON THE FLIGHT SHE IS LATE” and then walked away and left the other employees to deal with this. They allowed us through since we had checked in online. We went through security. There were about four or five people behind us. As I’m getting my shoes back on and collecting my things she yells to the entire room again “she was not supposed to be allowed through, she can’t get on the flight” I replied that the people at the desk had let us through. She then asked for our boarding passes before I had finished putting on my shoes and then yelled to the room again “you are holding EVERYONE up. BOARDING PASSES”. There were people still behind us. We were very apologetic and completely understanding of the fact that our luggage may get put on the next flight because we were “late” for a checkin we had done online. She had no reason to literally PUBLICLY SHAME us. I wish I had gotten her name. She also complained about us very loudly to the rest of the staff. Overall, even with the flight being delayed due to a problem with the plane which caused us to miss our connecting flight I was fairly happy with Alaska. But this woman was unnecessarily rude to us on what was an extremely difficult day for personal reasons I won’t get in to. As someone who has worked customer service their entire life, I would NEVER treat a...

Staff are super helpful, like to an amazing degree. It would blow your mind how far beyond the call of duty everyone goes. So no criticism of the staff, and I mean the counter agents, TSA staff is ridiculously inconsistent just like any airport. What's OK to check thru security on a Wednesday is not OK on a Friday, but then on Friday the agent only noticed half of the "banned" items and we still got the other half onto the plane...good work keeping us secure! But, about the airport...If you get stuck at PUW with complications please understand that the airport is very small and only newly used in this commercial capacity. There's enough room to squeeze one flight's worth of passengers into each the main lobby and TSA secure area. So, if a flight gets delayed, there will be crowd shuffling and you will need to re-enter the TSA secure area. And don't expect much in the way of amenities. The vending machine has a few snack options, but today at least it only took coins, no bills, no cards, so even chips were hard to come by during a long delay. And the most important part is to plan your ride/shuttle out of there in advance. The location is far from anything. Ubers and taxis both are very difficult to come by. One staff gave me a phone number for a driver to pick us up and what a godsend that was, to not have to wait three hours for the next available taxi. And when others had issues with flights, staff were offering rides in their own cars when they got off work. Like I said, mind-blowing, a testament to how helpful these staff are in dealing with a rather...