Portland International Jetport | PWM

[Portlander]

This is the area at PWM that has safety distance limitations imposed by the FAA (all airports have to conform) due to positioning of the aircraft tails, ramp vehicle movement and an active taxiway. The black and yellow line is the absolute limit for aircraft movement on the taxiway due to required push back space and there is just no room to widen. Now the grass areas of the taxiways that are away from the apron could be wider but then you run into alignment and lighting issues which is just not worth the effort.

PWM is a compact airport with limited available land to change the basic layout which has been in place since 1968 and planners back then would not have predicted that over 2 million passengers would someday use the airport. Fortunately the primary runway was extended from 6800' to 7200' but even that is maxed out due to the Fore River on one side and the Maine Turnpike on the other so we basically have to work with what we have.

 

[Cosakita18]

In terms of runway length we have more than enough to play with compared to some airports! John Wayne / Orange County Airport (SNA) has one primary runway measuring just 5,700 feet in length! (Even shorter than our runway 18/36) and yet SNA regularly handles transcon flights to EWR, IAD and JFK with aircraft as large as 757's. SNA is a good example of what PWM could become despite a small footprint.

And given SNA's proximity to wealthy and persnickity Newport Beach homeowners....the airport requires extreme takeoff procedures. Most commercial flights cycle to full takeoff power while holding at the end of the runway...then release the brakes when engines are fully spooled up. After that it's a very steep 25 degree takeoff climb to 700 feet. It's quite unnerving if you're not used to it!

 

[Portlander]

I've taken off from SNA and it's an adventure! Key West is another example with an even shorter runway (5076') and has mainline service by Delta, American and Allegiant with the A321 the largest aircraft currently being used. DCA's runway is 7169', LGA's is 7003' and MDW is 6522' for three other examples of major airports with shorter runways than Portland.

 

[Portlander]

Very impressive detail from a 3D flight simulator from Contrail who gathers imagery from airports all over the world and have recently added PWM to their airport options.

 

[Cosakita18]

looks good! They even got the airline gate assignments correct.

Although I’m more curious about the background and that highrise poking out of Munjoy Hill

 

[PWMFlyer]

Love how F9 is utilizing B6 jetway......lol. I remember several years ago when I interviewed with JetBlue, thats when they first arrived, that it would be a cold day in hell if anyone parked their jet at their jetway. Today I saw breeze using it...

 

[Cosakita18]

Love how F9 is utilizing B6 jetway......lol. I remember several years ago when I interviewed with JetBlue, thats when they first arrived, that it would be a cold day in hell if anyone parked their jet at their jetway. Today I saw breeze using it...

Out with the old, in with the new!

If B6 wants their own jetway maybe they shouldn't have made PWM a seasonal backwater in their network

 

[Cosakita18]

It looks like Breeze is coming to Bangor. BGR- MCO, TPA. and RSW are all bookable on the Breeze website with flights beginning in October

 

[Portlander]

Good for Bangor, maybe Breeze will eventually give low class Allegiant the boot out of Bunyonville!!

 

[Cosakita18]

Good for Bangor, maybe Breeze will eventually give low class Allegiant the boot out of Bunyonville!!

Allegiant has a pretty strong base in the Queen City. Their BGR routes actually have some of the highest load factors on their whole east coast network.

I do think there will be a little bit of passenger cannibalization for Breeze's Florida routes from PWM , but BGR's biggest "pull" is as a gateway for Canadian customers and that's the big reason why Allegiant (and now Breeze) have set up shop there. For folks in New Brunswick looking to travel within the US it's substantially cheaper to drive to BGR than it is to fly out of Fredericton, Moncton or Saint John.

 

[Portlander]

Any cannibalization would be minimum with the drain coming from the Waterville north area, Augusta south would still choose PWM. And you nailed it, Bangor will continue to benefit from its Canadian friends to the east!

 

[PWMFlyer]

I compared schedules between BGR and PWM and they do not overlap.
For example:
PWM-RSW
Sunday Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday

BGR-RSW
Wednesday Sat

PWM-MCO
Monday and Friday

BGR-MCO
Sunday Thursday

PWM-TPA
Monday -Breeze Thru
Wednesday-Direct
Friday - Breeze Thru
Saturday-Direct

BGR-TPA
Monday and Friday-Direct

 

[Portlander]

Nice research!

 

[Cosakita18]

I compared schedules between BGR and PWM and they do not overlap.
For example:
PWM-RSW
Sunday Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday

BGR-RSW
Wednesday Sat

PWM-MCO
Monday and Friday

BGR-MCO
Sunday Thursday

PWM-TPA
Monday -Breeze Thru
Wednesday-Direct
Friday - Breeze Thru
Saturday-Direct

BGR-TPA
Monday and Friday-Direct

Good comparison! I'd also expect additional direct frequency to be added on PWM-MCO at some point...A third weekly frequency at the very least.

Worth noting that PWM-TPA and PWM-RSW had some of the highest load factors for the whole Breeze network in November and December so it's no surprise that more frequency is being added there!

 

[Portlander]

I am still surprised the no airline has taken advantage of Florida's east coast destinations (non stop) such as PBI, FLL or MIA. Does American Eagle still serve MIA on a seasonal basis?

 

[Cosakita18]

I am still surprised the no airline has taken advantage of Florida's east coast destinations (non stop) such as PBI, FLL or MIA. Does American Eagle still serve MIA on a seasonal basis?

FLL or MIA seem like absolute no-brainers for PWM especially with cruise ship connections. Even BGR has seasonal FLL flights with Allegiant.

AA isn't flying seasonal MIA this year. That route might have been a little bit too long and thin for an E-175. it would be nice to see it come back with mainline equipment.

 

[DesertMaineiac]

Good for BGR to gain a new carrier. For a Utah-based carrier Breeze seems to want to saturate the northeast with their brand & service with not much focus put on the west coast or midwest. With the northern New England adds they sure prove the demand is still north-south. It seems the only way Breeze can continue to grow at PWM is a few more southeast destinations and introduce some east-west routes with BGR and MHT adds. I just can't see Islip, Pittsburgh and Norfolk (except breeze thru service) lasting.

The Frontier adds continue to surprise me, but interestingly I didn't see any press release or notification from the Jetport of the new ORD service issued or even added to their website yet. Is this to appease United and their ORD service?

I'm also curious to see if JetBlue's recent stated refocus on north-south routes provides any benefit to PWM in response to Breeze. I really don't see how limited seasonal JFK service is worth it for them to continue, but they bring it back each summer. Perhaps NYC flyers pay a fare to make the summer service profitable similar to what JetBlue offers to Cape Cod and the Islands seasonally and the E-190/A-220 fits that route well. I throw this out there as there are some folks on this forum who seem to know the workings of the jetport well!

 

[Cosakita18]

Breeze recently started service to DEN and just announced DFW. My optimistic thought is that next year they'll start flying PWM-DEN/DFW/MSY summer-seasonally and add PBI or FLL for the winter. I honestly don't think LAS or LAX is as far-fetched as we might think and PWM could support a 2-3x weekly summer seasonal transcon. As for PIT, ISP and ORF....ISP is definitely the weakest of the bunch in terms of load factors but if these routes had been failures they would have been cut for the '24 season. Breeze has demonstrated that they don't hold on to unprofitable routes.

Frontier adds and drops routes so frequently that sometimes new routes go unannounced and uncelebrated. They announced PHL as a "new" service but they've flown PWM-PHL intermittently between 2019 and present.

JetBlue has thrown all of their eggs in the Boston basket and they clearly don't see any value in growing service here beyond a very minimal seasonal offering. B6 is more than happy to tell Mainers "you want JetBlue? go to Logan"

JetBlue as a whole seems to be going through a bit of a culture crisis after the failure of the Spirit Merger and they just recently announced a slew of route cuts and the closure of their base at LAX so unless they're a big strategy shift I don't see them growing at PWM.

 

[TC_zoid]

Nice to see something a bit more interesting than taxidermy when you're headed to get your luggage. Or is this new display on the ground level behind the down escalator?

https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03...can-visit-the-moon-or-at-least-a-chunk-of-it/

 

[markhb]

JetBlue not only lost the Spirit merger, they also lost the alliance they had with American (which I guess American is appealing), so I have to think they're in a bit of strategic floundering right now. I hate to see it; when my brother was a frequent traveler he loved them and proudly proclaimed himself #Mosaic4Life .