The point about choice is that more than 750,000 Snohomish County residents are in a similar choice position as those 700,000 Vancouver residents who help make BLI viable. Parts of King and even Skagit County contribute to the market for Paine Field, too.

16 is typical flight load for 2-gates. If I remember right, Propeller has approval for something like 20 flights per day.

It can get a lot easier than light rail. The travel time from Everett to SeaTac will be 97 minutes if Sound Transit's estimate is met and things don't get worse on the downtown leg. Since the overwhelming majority of Snohomish County residents will not live within typical walking distance of a light rail stop, light rail arriving in Snohomish County really won't change the picture much for Paine Field.