Portland International Jetport | PWM

Given that latest parking plan, I'm leaning towards predicting that the location @matt.greeson flagged across from the Embassy Suites is the one. Second choice (with much better visibility) would be the intersection of Jetport Blvd. and International Parkway, oriented along the latter since it would be pinned between the street and what I take to be the relocated remote cellphone lot.
 
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Enplanement numbers for November are out and PWM had 91 more passengers last month over the record year month in 2019. The Jetport now only needs 100,640 enplanements in December to break the all time annual record and I'm predicting we'll beat it by around 20K for a grand total of 2.2M. (y)
 
Portlander said:
Enplanement numbers for November are out and PWM had 91 more passengers last month over the record year month in 2019. The Jetport now only needs 100,640 enplanements in December to break the all time annual record and I'm predicting we'll beat it by around 20K for a grand total of 2.2M. (y)
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Nice! Now all they need is more parking (ha!). Why can't they add a couple of levels above the existing garage? Maine Med did it. And Manchester's garage is three times that of Portland's.
 
PWM was limited on how tall they could go with the current garage and future expansion not because of the FAA, but due to the Stroudwater Neighborhood Association. If I remember correctly there were also limitations added to the number of lights and their intensity for the upper level of the garage which I understand. I'm going to the meeting this evening purely for the entertainment value!
 
Portlander said:
PWM was limited on how tall they could go with the current garage and future expansion not because of the FAA, but due to the Stroudwater Neighborhood Association. If I remember correctly there were also limitations added to the number of lights and their intensity for the upper level of the garage which I understand. I'm going to the meeting this evening purely for the entertainment value!
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Neighborhood associations and airports are like fire and water. They don't mix.
 
In 2018, November was 166,526.00 I don't know why the big number in Nov? Big migration back to Florida?
2023 Jan - Nov 2,086,837
2022 Jan - Nov 1,869,199
2021 Jan - Nov 1,595,578
2019 Jan - Nov 2,029,483
2018 Jan - Nov 1,984,673
 
The snowbirds I know tend to wait until after Christmas to move down. My hunch is that it's the Thanksgiving spike.
 
PWMFlyer said:
Parking Lot Site Plan
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I read today in the press herald that the parking garage expansion was 10 years out. That seems like quite a while though. Why would they not instead build a 1-2 story garage now with provisions for expanding vertically? They could minimize the footprint of this parking lot for interim capacity. Also, I haven’t been by the unum parking lot lately, but could that also be used as a temporary overflow lot while a garage is being built?
 
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New visual of the plan. Local residents going crazy of course… these people who were not here before the Jetport have way too much say in pushing this much needed parking expansion back. They’re complaining about it becoming more noisy… just get rid of the cell phone lot for now and call it a compromise! Then in 5-10 years build a garage.
These people are impossible to deal with sometimes, makes me so frustrated that positive development in Maine gets delayed because of these egos.
 
Honestly, that's a better place for the cellphone lot than the current one. The current one on the back side of the loop road, you either have to drive through the terminal or around by the Embassy Suites to get to it, and then have to complete the loop to get down to baggage claim. This new location is more convenient to get to, and won't feel like so much backtracking to get to the terminal when your people arrive.
 
That photo of the taxidermy animals and the lobster buoys is perhaps an "11" out of 10 in the idea of kitsch. Who is doing that? The janitor? They/we need some serious help. If that's the first impression a visitor to Maine AND Portland gets (and you never get a chance for a second)...
 
Portlander said:
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The collection of critters have increased since my last visit!
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Oh good god. Donate those things to the Wild Animal Park in Gray. I actually like the lobster buoy tree as a stand alone holiday decor piece. I'd love to see a multi-media sensory experience at the Jetport....a short walk-through or room with ocean, lake and mountain vistas.....and pipe in some pine and ocean scents like they do on Soarin rides at Disney. Am I asking for too much?😂
 
NR2Portland said:
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New visual of the plan. Local residents going crazy of course… these people who were not here before the Jetport have way too much say in pushing this much needed parking expansion back. They’re complaining about it becoming more noisy… just get rid of the cell phone lot for now and call it a compromise! Then in 5-10 years build a garage.
These people are impossible to deal with sometimes, makes me so frustrated that positive development in Maine gets delayed because of these egos.
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I think reasonable people can disagree about whether this is “positive development”. It’s great to see increased use of the Jetport. Perhaps it’s time to seriously explore alternatives for arriving to and departing from PWM that better align with Maine and Portland’s stated sustainability goals.
 
I attended the neighborhood meeting and it was a NIMBY festival and Paul Bradbury did an excellent job explaining the plans and fielding questions (some were logical and well thought out) but the attendees were not receptive as expected. NR2Portland's previous comments were spot on. Paul is looking for a temporary cell phone lot which would save that closest parcel for the neighbors and I've given him a few options and we'll see what he comes up with. The MAIN issue is the expansion of the garage which solves most of the problems and it should have already been built in my opinion but the airport needs to secure funding. Also, it cannot be built until the new parking lots are completed in order to free up the land where the construction will take place. There is only so much money to go around and in the past few years the priorities have been refurbishing the main runway, improving taxiways and ramps, extending 18-36, renovating the lower concourse and purchasing 6 new jetways that will be installed later this year. Senator Collins needs to come to the rescue just as Senator Leahy has already done for BTV.
 
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I’m not disputing your assessment of who attended the meeting or their motives, @Portlander. However, that doesn’t invalidate my statement that it’s possible for reasonable people to have diverging opinions about this. I don’t live near the airport, I’m not convinced this is the best solution, and it has little to do with the trees they’d be taking down.

I’ve flown in and out of dozens of airports across four continents and I regularly fly into and out of PWM. When I think of the airports I’ve regularly used that offered the best experience, they all had fast and frequent public transportation options. I want that for PWM! METRO will be offering enhanced service to the Jetport in spring of 2024. I think building upon that foundation may be more consistent with more stakeholder interests than construction of new parking. People will take the bus, but not if we’re constantly bending over backward to make driving easier.
 
Tom Nevers said:
I’m not disputing your assessment of who attended the meeting or their motives, @Portlander. However, that doesn’t invalidate my statement that it’s possible for reasonable people to have diverging opinions about this. I don’t live near the airport, I’m not convinced this is the best solution, and it has little to do with the trees they’d be taking down.

I’ve flown in and out of dozens of airports across four continents and I regularly fly into and out of PWM. When I think of the airports I’ve regularly used that offered the best experience, they all had fast and frequent public transportation options. I want that for PWM! METRO will be offering enhanced service to the Jetport in spring of 2024. I think building upon that foundation may be more consistent with more stakeholder interests than construction of new parking. People will take the bus, but not if we’re constantly bending over backward to make driving easier.
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Is it fair to compare PWM and Portland to airports on other continents or even in larger metro areas in this country? Europe and Asia are way ahead of the U.S. when it comes to modern airports and transportation to and from. Maine just isn't populated enough and too spread out to do some of these dream transportation scenarios without massive subsidies. That being said....better METRO service to and from downtown Portland could and should be improved upon.
 
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