Portland International Jetport | PWM

[Portlander]

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.

Tom, I stated that some of the comments were logical and well thought out and I agreed with some of the resident's concerns. I do own property near the airport and strongly believe that these public forums are paramount to new ideas and compromise. The public transportation issues were brought up on numerous occasions and PWM will seek out METRO, Concord and other stakeholders to hopefully improve service and provide more sensible time schedules to the airport. However, this does not begin to solve the issue of Maine being a very rural state and Portland's catchement area is quite different from some of the other airports you and I have utilized. A majority of the vehicles in the garage and parking lots (recent study) are not owned by greater Portlanders who are actually doing a decent job of using public transportation, UBER, LYFT and being dropped off for their flights. The remainder of the travelers from away do not have these options especially when you have to get up at 2 AM to drive from Augusta to catch a 5:30 flight out of PWM. Respect for their neighbors is what PWM is trying to accomplish which is a delicate balancing act especially with very little acreage available when compared to other similar sized airports around the country.

 

[nomc]

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?

I wonder if there's a room with a leaky pipe, we need to FEEL the ocean.

 

[markhb]

Now we see the violence inherent in the system!

So far as the parking goes, I always come back to the fact that, once you get outside the bubble that runs from Biddeford to Yarmouth, Maine attracts and retains people who by and large want nothing to do with cities, urban transit, or anything that smacks of them. As a friend of mine who lives in Bridgton says, "if I can see my neighbors, they're too close." Those people aren't going to park in Westbrook or Falmouth and take the Metro to the regional resource that is the Jetport when they fly off on vacation (especially with kids in tow), and I'd wager that that market is responsible for a large portion of the parking crunch.

Or, what Portlander said .

 

[NR2Portland]

View attachment 45583
The collection of critters have increased since my last visit!

I think if this looked permanent, like a lesser display at Cabelas or LL Bean it would have such a better appeal. With an actual border instead of a string. With a large landscape for all of these animals to share making it look more realistic. If it looks like it’s supposed to be there instead of a janitor storing them there it would be a fun thing to see when arriving into Maine instead of tacky.

Something along the lines of this. All connected, sharing the same landscape, instead of their individual stands that could be moved anywhere. @Portlander, if you could share this idea with anyone at the Jetport I think it’s an easy fix/improvement compared to other projects at the Jetport and would be so much nicer to come down to on the stairs when you arrive in Portland!

 

[Portlander]

Your idea has been shared with Paul and I'll let you know his thoughts. May be a little while because he has parking issues and neighborhood concerns to deal with in the short term.

 

[NR2Portland]

Your idea has been shared with Paul and I'll let you know his thoughts. May be a little while because he has parking issues and neighborhood concerns to deal with in the short term.

I appreciate that!! I’m sure he’s got way too much on his plate. Tell him I’ll build it for him if he lets me take some stress off his hands

 

[PWMFlyer]

I just love the comments from people who have no clue on the PPH. Who is going to pay for all these buses and shuttles? Overhead costs? The best article actually came from NPR/Maine Public where they actually presented the facts. Stroudwater Village as they call it, has always been against everything and everyone. I remember that several years ago, there was talk about seceding from the city. They want to keep their special Utopia. So, when the houses on Tide Mill Rd were constructed, where trees were cut? I didn't hear the outcry... or on Rivers Edge. I agree with Paul, most vehicles are coming from outside the Greater Portland Area. Now are you going to tell a family from New Brunswick: "Sorry Folks, but the garage is full, we raised our prices to 25.00 per day to make it inconvenient to you!! we tried to build a 300 car parking lot but the Lorax of the trees stopped us, but there are options for you!!!, take the Metro bus(our local inconvenient option that runs every hour from downtown and make sure you don't bring your luggage, there is not a dedicated place for it, but if you are smart you can put them on the outside bicycle rack), throw the dice and hope the Pink lot is open and the old shuttle from Atlantic Limo is running. Or our new fabulous new lot 2 miles away at the Maine Mall... Ahh the excitement, you can shop while you wait for your shuttle, make sure you lock your doors because we provide no security, and the lot is dimly lit due to the dark sky ordinance in South Portland. Have a great trip!!!!

 

[TC_zoid]

Try getting an Uber or Lyft in Portland, Maine on a cold January or February morning at 5:00 AM. It's 30 minutes, if at all. And the shuttle van driver has probably overslept, or called in sick, or quit his job. Bradbury is right. People need to be able to walk to the terminal.

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

I'd say 90+% of the flights I've taken out of PWM have been in that early morning push. This is just me, but even if it was available, I'm not grabbing a METRO bus from Westbrook at 3-4am to catch a 5-6am flight. Currently, the earliest buses from Westbrook are around 6am and necessitates at least one transfer. Best case scenario is to get to the airport by 7:30.

I'm not even taking a chance on an Uber or Lyft, because I don't want to feel rushed or anxious that I might, even if highly unlikely, miss a flight. There aren't a plethora of options available here if you do miss a flight, and I have no desire to start a long day of traveling by driving or taking a bus to Logan just to have that plethora of options. I like flying out of and back into PWM. After several days of travel that usually involves meetings, socializing, etc., the last thing I want is to have to get in my truck or grab a bus for a 2-hour slog home.

And while this is anecdotal, it's a real thing and part of the reason why public transportation options have a natural limit for PWM. It's a relatively regional airport where nearly 40% of the commercial non-private departures are prior to 7am, and not everyone is coming from within 5 miles of the airport. Parking is, unfortunately, a necessary evil. If they want to reduce the on-site parking demand, then they need to come up with a viable, fool-proof early-morning transportation and parking solution that truly meets the needs and expectations of those early-morning travelers.

 

[mainejeff]

There aren't a plethora of options available here if you do miss a flight, and I have no desire to start a long day of traveling by driving or taking a bus to Logan just to have that plethora of options. I like flying out of and back into PWM. After several days of travel that usually involves meetings, socializing, etc., the last thing I want is to have to get in my truck or grab a bus for a 2-hour slog home.

I guess this is all about personal preference. I have documented on here before....and will one last time. I recently took a flight to from Logan to San Diego.....took Concord bus out of Portland to Logan. I have to drive to Portland one way or another so we are starting off equal there. Parked about 30 minutes before the bus left at transportation center.....comfortable 2 hour ride to Boston. Boarded Jet Blue at Logan and got to my destination 6 hours later. Parking was $5.50/day compared to $14/day for PWM.....I was gone for 15 days $210 (PWM) vs. $82.50 (Concord).....paid for my $59 roundtrip bus fare and more.

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

I guess this is all about personal preference. I have documented on here before....and will one last time. I recently took a flight to from Logan to San Diego.....took Concord bus out of Portland to Logan. I have to drive to Portland one way or another so we are starting off equal there. Parked about 30 minutes before the bus left at transportation center.....comfortable 2 hour ride to Boston. Boarded Jet Blue at Logan and got to my destination 6 hours later. Parking was $5.50/day compared to $14/day for PWM.....I was gone for 15 days $210 (PWM) vs. $82.50 (Concord).....paid for my $59 roundtrip bus fare and more.

When I'm flying, it's almost always for work, and my company is footing the bill for parking. So, that's another big difference. I've done the bus ride to Logan thing a couple times for some West coast trips, and I did not find it enjoyable, especially coming back. I just wanted to get home. I'm not built for a leisurely pace.

 

[Cosakita18]

Surprisingly, Frontier is resuming 3x weekly PWM-RDU in May. Load Factors on that route have consistently been mediocre (60-75%) but clearly they see value in retaining it.

Frontier is also keeping PWM-MCO through the summer as well (Also 3x weekly) Making it a full year-round route once again.

My hunch is that they see Breeze as a threat in markets like PWM and want to add capacity and services to prevent Breeze from taking too much market share. If Frontier had dropped RDU Breeze would likely have picked it up....and Frontier has been flooding PWM with seats to Orlando.

I wish Frontier would bring back a seasonal DEN service. It would break United's monopoly on that route.

 

[markhb]

Is RDU really that big a market from here, or is it a hub feeder? I can't imagine the Lewiston-Duke affinity is that great, regardless of mascots.

 

[Cosakita18]

Is RDU really that big a market from here, or is it a hub feeder? I can't imagine the Lewiston-Duke affinity is that great, regardless of mascots.

There aren't a lot of connection options from RDU with Frontier. I assume It's Mostly O&D leisure traffic. Not many business travelers using a less than daily seasonal route on an ultra-low cost carrier.

It's never been a phenomenally well performing route for Frontier but it's managed to come back every year since 2018.

 

[Portlander]

Growing up in Jacksonville, NC as a Marine Corps brat, Raleigh was our closest big city (120 mi) and was also the location where I enlisted and departed for boot camp myself in 1975. Talk about the transition from a Portland sized municipality (1950's) to the 41st largest in the US with its own collection of skyscrapers and big city amenities. Photo credit: James Willamor

 

[Portlander]

Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh being transformed into a pedestrian mall in the late 70's which turned out to be a failure (as many were) with the street being returned back to traffic 30 years later. I remember climbing to the top of the 15 story BB&T building on the left via the fire escape stairs to the roof which is a hobby I still have not outgrown!

 

[markhb]

View attachment 45731

Growing up in Jacksonville, NC as a Marine Corps brat, Raleigh was our closest big city (120 mi) and was also the location where I enlisted and departed for boot camp myself in 1975. Talk about the transition from a Portland sized municipality to the 41st largest in the US with its own collection of skyscrapers and big city amenities. Photo credit: James Willamor

I was prepared to be bemused that you had to go to Raleigh from the coast to get to the Island, but after research it's not as far out of the way as I thought. Thank you for your service.

 

[NR2Portland]

Before we get the last month of 2023, here is the increase in passengers from 2022 to 2023! Currently a 210,255 person increase from the previous year.
Clearly offering more flights is a success. Flights keep filling and passenger numbers keep flying up. Going to be close to a quarter million more passengers than the previous year. Incredible growth.

 

[Cosakita18]

I wonder what caused the decrease in March and April? That's usually spring break season.

 

[NR2Portland]

Not sure, there were small decreases in frequency and plane size. Not sure why it happened but at the beginning of the year it seemed like flights like AA to PHL, UA to ORD, etc all seem to stay the same or decrease frequency. Before the arrival of Breeze the Jetport wasn’t looking like they would have a huge year