Portland International Jetport | PWM

I will be very surprised if Presque Isle doesn't rename their airport after Senator Collins when she finally retires. Presumably that will last longer than PWM being named after Ed Muskie (that lasted about a week IIRC).

Supposedly the Senate Appropriations Committee has completed their work on all the spending bills; it might be worth looking to see if there are any earmarks in there for the Jetport.
 
Have not seen anything yet for FY24. The Muskie branding might have worked if they would have named the terminal after him and NOT the actual airport. As far as Presque Isle goes, I think it would be a nice honor for Senator Collins seeing it's the closest commercial airport to Caribou. And how about the Stephen King Bangor International Airport seeing it's his part time residence and The Langoliers miniseries was filmed there!
 
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In terms of the overall passenger experience at the Jetport...the original pre-2012 terminal area definitely needs a visual facelift. That hideous carpeting really needs to go.

The terminal also really needs more food and drink choices. I had a 5:30 AM departure several weeks ago and the starbucks near gate 7 was far beyond swamped with in-person and mobile orders. It took me nearly 30 minutes just to get a coffee and I was one of the first people in line. Personally, I would love to see a Dunkin' in the terminal or maybe an Aroma Joes for a bit more local flavor.

One thing I think would make the Jetport stand out among regional airports is some kind of small lounge accessible to business class travelers of any airline. Nothing too fancy, just a private seating area with maybe coffee and light snacks.
 
A "First Class" lounge is something that is being considered in the future and would be carved out of the TSA admin space once they relocate. There are a lot of moving pieces in the works at PWM but nothing gets accomplished without federal funding.
 
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"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason"... One can dream ...
 
Portlander said:
Paul Bradbury has mentioned to me that a "First Class" lounge is something that is being considered in the future and would be carved out of the TSA admin space once they relocate. There are a lot of moving pieces in the works at PWM but nothing gets accomplished without federal funding.
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Don't the individual airlines do the spend on the lounges and pay the rent? I use AA and United lounges a lot because of the company I consult for. But after Covid, the lounges all pulled back with the food selections. The food and drink choices are now much better outside the lounges, especially at Dallas-Fort Worth. And that includes coffee. It's primarily the free Wi-Fi and a bit more peace and quiet in the lounges. But if PMA had one with a great three-sided view of the main runway and the planes taking off and landing, that would be cool. I'd do it for that alone. None of the lounges in all the airports I've been to give you much of a view. I'm tired of watching baggage handlers and the food service scissor cube trucks. Boring.
 
They traditionally do implement their brand of lounge and lease the space. However, airlines normally only build them at their hubs and busiest airports which is why you won't see them at smaller airports like Portland which is either an origination or final destination for travelers. There are a few small and medium sized airports that have added their own lounges to provide space for first class and business passengers which is what PWM hopes to do in the future. Also, PWM has 8 carriers and that means no one airline is dominant. If Delta, United or American accounted for say 70 percent of the enplanements out of Portland maybe they'd take a chance and build their own lounge.
 
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Cosakita18 said:
The terminal also really needs more food and drink choices. I had a 5:30 AM departure several weeks ago and the starbucks near gate 7 was far beyond swamped with in-person and mobile orders. It took me nearly 30 minutes just to get a coffee and I was one of the first people in line. Personally, I would love to see a Dunkin' in the terminal or maybe an Aroma Joes for a bit more local flavor.
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This right here is my biggest pet peeve of PWM, especially since I'm usually taking a butt-ass early 5:30am-ish flight somewhere. One more coffee/breakfast option would be awesome. Nobody wants Burger King breakfast.
 
The issue there is we have a workforce that doesn’t want to work and owners who can’t find workers. I agree that one or two more places to eat would be ideal! I’m totally for expanding the terminal westward creating more gates to accommodate for the increase in routes and more places to eat and enjoy the Jetport. But Maine and the entire country needs to wake up and get working, there are so many issues when it comes to that especially at the Jetport. Ramp agent shortages, gate attendant shortages, Linda bean staff shortages which make them close half the dining area at 6pm, shipyard and Great American Bagel staff shortages. It’s all happening at PWM and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed before adding more understaffed places in my opinion
 
NR2Portland said:
The issue there is we have a workforce that doesn’t want to work and owners who can’t find workers. I agree that one or two more places to eat would be ideal! I’m totally for expanding the terminal westward creating more gates to accommodate for the increase in routes and more places to eat and enjoy the Jetport. But Maine and the entire country needs to wake up and get working, there are so many issues when it comes to that especially at the Jetport. Ramp agent shortages, gate attendant shortages, Linda bean staff shortages which make them close half the dining area at 6pm, shipyard and Great American Bagel staff shortages. It’s all happening at PWM and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed before adding more understaffed places in my opinion
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I think Portland has what, at least or more than 6,000 new "residents" who can't legally work? I was in Basel, Switzerland last summer and my friend there said they had the same problem--not enough workers, or in the service industries. So, early last year when over one million Ukrainians fled the country because of the war, Basel took in about 60,000 and let them work the next day! Smart. Many of them are younger and as nice as can be. Win/win all the way around. Not working creates low self-esteem, especially with men, and then that becomes another problem (drugs and crime). Why do that to them? Why do that to us? Stupid is as stupid does, said Forrest Gump.
 
NR2Portland said:
The issue there is we have a workforce that doesn’t want to work and owners who can’t find workers. I agree that one or two more places to eat would be ideal! I’m totally for expanding the terminal westward creating more gates to accommodate for the increase in routes and more places to eat and enjoy the Jetport. But Maine and the entire country needs to wake up and get working, there are so many issues when it comes to that especially at the Jetport. Ramp agent shortages, gate attendant shortages, Linda bean staff shortages which make them close half the dining area at 6pm, shipyard and Great American Bagel staff shortages. It’s all happening at PWM and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed before adding more understaffed places in my opinion
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Ahh, there's that "nobody wants to work anymore" false edict again.

As a trained economist, this is what I see:

Wages increasing closer to livable levels, as well as the on-set of the gig economy and more availability of non-traditional sources of income, means many people don't need to work 2-3 normal jobs or 70+ hours per week anymore to get by. Add to that an aging Baby Boomer population that is retiring, reducing hours or becoming private consultants or subcontracted employees that can dictate their own schedule and hours, as well as smaller generation of high school kids that are also not working as much as prior generations, and you have a shortage of labor in many service-related industries/sectors. It's not going away, no matter how much you tell people to "wake up and get working."

Automation is the only way we'll be able to close the gap and continue to grow the economy, but there are too many fuddy-duddys out there stubbornly thinking that Wal-Mart is replacing cashiers with self checkout simply to reduce costs. It's part of the equation, but not the entire equation. They can't find enough people to be cashiers, hence the increased need for a more automated solution. The same thing is occurring across other industries. It's either automation or another baby boom, and the latter is not going to happen, nor would it be the immediate solution needed to close the labor supply vs labor demand gap.
 
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Yeah I can’t believe how long it takes the government to get these new Americans working and living… it’s sad that the state moves so slowly on this, communities would benefit!
Strange hat, I totally get your post. I didn’t mean for that one little phrase to take center stage, it’s not what my message intended to portray. The Jetport has a labor shortage that needs help, don’t think you can knit pick that.
 
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Recently received word that Portland is Breeze Airways 3rd most successful route in terms of passenger load (how full flights are).
The top 5 airports are:
TPA 94%
CHS 92%
PWM 87%
PVD 85%
BDL 85%
With Portland doing so well, Breeze will surely be doing big adds to the Jetport. They have half the routes BDL and PVD has but they’re doing slightly better. This is a sign of an underserved market. Look for flights to places like JAX, PBI, SDF, and eventually west to LAX or SFO, as well as international flights once the money comes through for the Jetport. Breeze will invest big money into the Jetport soon.
 
I think the next step for Breeze is upping frequencies on some of their routes. It looks like PWM-CHS is going up to 3 x weekly with some flights on the A220. I wouldn't be surprised if MCO gets additional capacity too. Twice a week is a fine starting point but there's definitely enough demand from our region for 3-4-5x weekly flights to MCO. With more frequency and capacity Breeze will be able to take even more of that market share.

I recall reading somewhere that the Portland metro is one of the largest on the east coast and Midwest that doesn't have daily flights to Orlando.
 
We need mainline flights to the east coast of southern Florida and I would love to see either Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami on a consistent basis. Breeze does serve PBI so maybe we'll see that in the future? I think seasonal American Eagle to Miami has been discontinued.
 
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I hope the predictions on Breeze materialize. Glad to hear they are doing well as Breeze still seems to be finding their way, The load factors are good but are they turning a profit on the routes or just filling seats at low prices.
I noticed that 3 Avelo flights landed at PWM today. Came in from various cities but all flew out to Westchester County/White Plains. I'd guess charters, but maybe kicking the tires a bit? Any idea, perhaps lots of summer camp kids heading back to the mid-Atlantic?
 
DesertMaineiac said:
I hope the predictions on Breeze materialize. Glad to hear they are doing well as Breeze still seems to be finding their way, The load factors are good but are they turning a profit on the routes or just filling seats at low prices.
I noticed that 3 Avelo flights landed at PWM today. Came in from various cities but all flew out to Westchester County/White Plains. I'd guess charters, but maybe kicking the tires a bit? Any idea, perhaps lots of summer camp kids heading back to the mid-Atlantic?
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Yes, spot on with the Breeze take, it’s going to be interesting to see if they figure out how to turn a profit even when doing so well passenger wise. Yeah, Avelo was seen yesterday, Allegiant the day before, I believe the Allegiant one was for military and I’d assume Avelo was camper pickup/drop off! I don’t see Avelo coming to Portland or anywhere anytime soon due to their troubles in Manchester. Todays flight to RDU is 55%, not great but not awful (best load I’ve seen), and the flight back to MHT is at 32%… not numbers that scream expansion!
 
DesertMaineiac said:
I noticed that 3 Avelo flights landed at PWM today. Came in from various cities but all flew out to Westchester County/White Plains. I'd guess charters, but maybe kicking the tires a bit? Any idea, perhaps lots of summer camp kids heading back to the mid-Atlantic?
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Charter would be my thought as well. I've anecdotally noticed a high rate of Wheels Up, NetJets and FlexJet flights in and out of the state over the past week.
 
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Same here! In Portland of course, but also to bar harbor and Augusta! One day on flightradar Augusta had like 8 cape air flights, 6 net jets, and 10 other exec jet arrivals! I was shocked with all that traffic. Bar Harbor has 10 cape air, 4 game aviation, 8 Net Jets, and plenty of other exec jets coming in today.
 
I also can't see Avelo starting scheduled service to PWM unless an existing carrier scales down or pulls out entirely (As I've said before, I wouldn't be surprised if Frontier pulls out of PWM) Between Breeze and the legacy carriers there's not too much room for another new carrier to grow at the Jetport. Especially a small startup airline like Avelo.

Similarly, I can't ever see Allegiant flying regularly to PWM. They would just be cannibalizing their operations at BGR and PSM.

Long term, It will be interesting to see if the JetBlue / Spirit merger will have any impact on service from PWM. Yes the Jetport is one of JetBlue's smallest stations right now, but if the merger goes through JetBlue's network and reach will expand significantly.
 
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