Portland International Jetport | PWM

They're also cutting routes from BDL and PVD. Interestingly, MHT ends the day before many of the new FLL routes begin....This is B6 trying to shift capacity south.

Sadly, B6 is not in good shape at the moment. The end of Spirit has given them some breathing room (as evidenced by their growth push at FLL) but the airline is still in bad shape financially with a very heavy debt load. My hunch is that they'll likely end up merging with UA. If that were to happen UA certainly wouldn't keep thinner leisure routes like PWM-MCO, but I think We'll see Breeze make moves to fill gaps left by B6 in New England.

In a related vein, the Sun Country-Allegiant merger was finalized this week. SY will keep operating as its own brand for the time being, but we'll start to see Allegiant birds landing here over the next couple years. I think its highly likely Allegiant will keep PWM-MSP and once the merger dust settles they could easily add SFB or PGD. I don't think adding Florida leisure routes from PWM would cannibalize too much of their existing snowbird routes from BGR or PSM.
 
Last edited:
Jet Blue was such a great airline at one time.....sad to see its decline. Breeze is definitely stepping up as sort of a lovechild of Jet Blue & Southwest.
 
Look at who is running Breeze!!!, if he was still running B6, they would not be in this situation.
SWA in the old days hedged on fuel which helped.
Delta bought its own refinery..
 
I just wanted to show how bad MHT will be compared to PWM When B6 closes
1779135990828.png

3 1/2 airlines!!!
Compared to 7 at PWM

1779136045596.png
 
The decline of MHT started 20 years ago and I would never have predicted the reversal in passenger counts with Portland (#94). Southwest played a major role in its shrinking enplanements with so much emphasis being shifted to Logan along with decreased service from Delta and United over the years. Am still surprised that BTV (#123) is now busier than Manchester (#124) with HVN (#121) moving ahead of both when comparing New England airports. Always felt that the "Manchester Boston Regional" name was a poor marketing choice and would have used "New Hampshire International" instead. MHT's cargo business is booming so the airport is still turning a profit overall.
 
Last edited:
The decline of MHT started 20 years ago and I would never have predicted the reversal in passenger counts with Portland (#94). Southwest played a major role in its shrinking enplanements with so much emphasis being shifted to Logan along with decreased service from Delta and United over the years. Am still surprised that BTV (#123) is now busier than Manchester (#124) with HVV (#121) moving ahead of both when comparing New England airports. Always felt that the "Manchester Boston Regional" name was a poor marketing choice and would have used "New Hampshire International" instead. MHT's cargo business is booming so the airport is still turning a profit overall.

Seems like MHT only really has a future as a small regional airport. As you mentioned they’ve fallen behind PWM and BTV, I wouldn’t be surprised if they fall behind BGR eventually too.

However, MHT smokes PWM when it comes to cargo. They definitely get more widebodies than we do. They even get the 747-f on occasion, which sadly we’ll never see here. Cargo is probably the only bright spot for growth at MHT given that airfreight is increasing getting squeezed out of BOS.
 
MHT's big day in the sun was when it was "Southwest for Boston". After SW went into Logan proper, they lost their big advantage, and PWM is now competitive enough (and has SW) that there's no compelling reason to fly Manch Vegas instead of Stroudwater.
 
Manch Vegas has no attraction unlike PWM serving the Coast, Kid Camps, Summer Residents, visitors, etc. I flew out of MHT maybe twice back in the early 90's, both on SWA when it was cheap and it was only SWA before going to BOS. The day SWA decided to open shop in BOS was the end for MHT. We were lucky to get SWA after Airtran was bought by SWA. MHT will become the cargo hub for New England. Fedex and UPS are getting crowded out and UPS was talking about moving to MHT. Pease will never become a big commercial airport. Allegiant does well there with limited service. Breeze does okay. PVD does well eventhough its an hour from Boston.
 
Seems like MHT only really has a future as a small regional airport. As you mentioned they’ve fallen behind PWM and BTV, I wouldn’t be surprised if they fall behind BGR eventually too.

However, MHT smokes PWM when it comes to cargo. They definitely get more widebodies than we do. They even get the 747-f on occasion, which sadly we’ll never see here. Cargo is probably the only bright spot for growth at MHT given that airfreight is increasing getting squeezed out of BOS.
Agreed on BGR. I think BIA needs to take a page out of Bozeman Yellowstone and become Bangor Acadia International.
 
I don't want to change anything to suit the other Portland. 😂 However, I do remember when it was officially "Edmund S. Muskie International Airport" for about a week. (People complained about it suddenly being named after a politician instead of the city, and Secretary Muskie then said that if it was going to cause controversy, to take his name off it.)
 
I don't want to change anything to suit the other Portland. 😂 However, I do remember when it was officially "Edmund S. Muskie International Airport" for about a week. (People complained about it suddenly being named after a politician instead of the city, and Secretary Muskie then said that if it was going to cause controversy, to take his name off it.)
Man....how times have changed!🙄
 
There are quite a few airports named after politicians which I personally am not a fan of because I pretty much dislike all of them on both sides. I did propose back when PWM was thinking of the name change to just naming the terminal building after the Senator but not the entire airport. As Mark mentioned, the idea fizzled out pretty quickly and Senator Muskie actually handled the situation with a lot of class.
 
Last edited:
One thing that we haven't discussed much in this thread is the important pick up and drop off experience at the Jetport. I rented an SUV to drive up to Acadia last week, and after returning it with my Boston friend, decided to see her off for the train at PTC. The lowest Uber rate from the Jetport to PTC was $32 !!!!!!!!!!! Huh? It's a mere 2.4 miles. She opened up her Lyft app and it was $12, so we did that. It was Wednesday at 11am, so is this surge pricing? I do think the taxi option should be offered, or one with better and cleaner cabs. I'd like to see a Zoox robovan offer this leg along with the peninsula. It's from Bezos (Amazon) and in S.F. and Austin it's free. But riders with lots of luggage would be out of luck. It's no more than a roller case and backpack really, that you keep next to you inside. Maybe decorate the exteriors in fun Maine colors or brands, etc. (LL Bean?) I'd like to see a Hearts of Pine themed one. That would be fun. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and hers of the Jetport was price gouging.

images.jpg
 
On a somewhat unrelated transportation note with my Zoox idea at the Jetport, Bar Harbor now has these "enhanced golf carts" that you can ride on the town's streets and through Acadia National Park's roads (you get a discounted deal at the park with it). They are electric, so feel-good Green and thinner than a regular car, so easier to park. Naturally, they are popular with the cruise ship passengers. They look kind of funny though, like something from old communist Russia. It would be cool if you could drop it off at the airport, but then who really flies into and out of Bar Harbor?

https://www.acadiagem.com/

attachment-Acadia-GEM-people1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Jetport-PTC connection? Hovercraft. Build a dedicated boat ramp at Thompson's Point and an access road from the river to the old NWS radar site, plus some dedicated driving area on the Jetport side (or a law change) because you can't operate a hovercraft on public roads. Normally I would suggest a duck boat but the mud flats are too shallow so that wouldn't work at low tide.
 

Back
Top