Portland International Jetport | PWM

Portlander said:
Welcome to the forum MHT Spotter and it will be nice to have some insight from Manchester as far as new projects ant potential developments. Also promising to see that MHT has started to rebound with new service and destinations and maybe you can put BTV back in its place when the CY 2024 enplanement numbers come out next year. CY2023 passenger counts are really close between the two airports close and may require a recount! (y)

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Thanks for the welcome! I doubt MHT will pass BTV number wise until American and United add more or Breeze/Avelo begin to expand.
 
Death, taxes, and at least one airline leaving MHT per year! 🤣 it was Spirit that announced in 23, Sun Country 3 months after its first flight this year (2024), what will it be in 25??
 
Spirit still has signage at MHT even though they have not officially left and stopped service , is there an official withdrawal for SunCountry?
 
BDL just announced Bermuda Air will start flying 2x a week utilizing a E-175 aircraft. My thoughts it could work here if the FIS was up and running---2026 and it's not too much of lift either.
 
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PWMFlyer said:
Spirit still has signage at MHT even though they have not officially left and stopped service , is there an official withdrawal for SunCountry?
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As of right now the Spirit signage is still up and they’re paying for everything. Unless Frontier buys them I doubt they’ll return. From what I’ve heard Sun Country isn’t official yet, but with 1 weekly flight I’d be fine with them leaving. Gives more gate space to Avelo, Breeze and JetBlue
 
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Mainebiz article today about Presque Isle's new $54M terminal expected to break ground next year. Seems to be quite grand for one JetBlue flight a day but as NR2Portand's post claims, if you build it they will come!
 
Portlander said:
Mainebiz article today about Presque Isle's new $54M terminal expected to break ground next year. Seems to be quite grand for one JetBlue flight a day but as NR2Portand's post claims, if you build it they will come!
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Definitely quite a facility for an airport with a single EAS flight per day, but once this terminal is done I could see UA returning to PQI without federal subsidies and offering a summer-seasonal to EWR. "The County" has slowly been building its tourism / outdoor recreation economy
 
54 million for 100 people per day… good for them! Can’t say it’s a bad move with what I have been preaching (build it, they will come).
Would be great for PWM to get some much deserved federal or state funds considering they have had 5-6 record months in a row… just seems logical with the economic impact the Jetport has on the region.
 
Susan Collins, do I need to say any more. She loves the County... now jetblue should have a flight PQI-PWM-JFK, or PQI-PWM-BOS to allow people from the County and Canada to utilize the Jetport
 
NR2Portland said:
Would be great for PWM to get some much deserved federal or state funds considering they have had 5-6 record months in a row… just seems logical with the economic impact the Jetport has on the region.
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But PWM has received ample federal funds which went to extending 18/36, entire rebuild of the primary runway, new taxiways, 5 new jetways, Gate 12/14 expansion, lower level terminal renovation next to baggage claim and the purchase of land for future parking. Now that the outside infrastructure projects have been mostly completed, the airport can now focus on needs inside the terminal like restrooms, FIS facility, baggage claim expansion and cosmetic items like new carpet, seating and maintenance upkeep of the almost 300,000 sf facility.
 
But Daddy, I want the goose the laid the golden egg. LOL We just want all the funding to go to PWM....we have to share sometimes..
 
I think we may be getting extreme.
All I argue is that federal and state funding should be more reflective of the impact the airport is having on the community/region.

Looking at the AIP grants in the state of Maine… in 2022 Portland got a nice 11M while PQI for 8M. 2023, PWM 3M, PQI 1M, BGR 6M. In 2024 so far, BRG with a whopping 15M compared to PWMs 7M.

When you look at the AIP site they state that airports are entitled to a certain amount of funding based on passenger volume. I understand this is one of many funding sources but there’s an example. That may be the largest funding source airports are dipping into for their large scale baggage claim, customs, or terminal expansion projects.

Again, let’s not go to extremes, all I argue is that those numbers make it look like PQI, BRG, and PWM all compete on relatively the same playing field when in reality, PWM is doing something like 80 times more passengers that PQI.

I don’t know as much as some of you, so I could form this as a question and ask you all why these numbers seem to not sway heavily to Portland? As PWMFlyer joked, I’m not arguing that every penny should go to PWM… but if it’s based off pax volume, or economic impact on its region, PWM deserves more on a fed and state level.
 
I could not agree with you more and in a world of fairness the funding should be based on an airport's enplanements but sometimes it can be the most pressing needs that win out when it comes to grant money. Very few would argue against PQI's need for a new terminal and we can debate on whether 30,000 sf is justified for the amount of flights that utilize the airport, but a lot of it is timing, political influence and convincing grant submissions that get selected. PWM should be positioned to receive more AIP funding during the next few years to help with upcoming projects such as the FIS facility, baggage claim and parking garage expansion while at the same time other regional airports may come up dry. What is solely based on the amount of passengers that use an airport is the Passenger Facility Charge which has NOT had an increase in over a decade but does help airports make smaller improvements like new carpeting for the concourse.
 
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Great photo of an inbound plane landing on Runway 29 taken by Maine Imaging who have provided excellent aerials of greater Portland and other Maine locations over the years. You can clearly see the 1000 foot markers (L) and it is evident that most aircraft only use around 5000-6000 feet of available pavement for uncontaminated landings. PWM could easily extend the runway another 1000' if we could put a short portion of the Maine Turnpike underground!
 
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I asked that question several years ago to Greg Hughes at the jetport. The issue with the first road is the water issue from runoff. They would have to create a major diversion or a water containment for storm water or pipe. The road could easily be tunneled as well as the turnpike. It all comes down to cost... maybe 10 years ago, but with advanced technology in engines, is the 9,000 ft runway necessary?
PWM 7,200
LGA 7,002
DCA 7,169
EYW 5,076
PVD 8,700
VRB 7,314
 
Wasn't being too greedy and only asked for 8200' which is a game changer for TATL flights. You forgot SNA at 5700, CRW at 6715, MDW at 6522 and HVN at 5600 which will be lengthened to 6650 in the future. (y)
 
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