Portland International Jetport | PWM

I can attest to the Labor Day rental situation. Rental return was busy. They had closed off the lower return ramp and made us return in make shift return spots and signage on regular levels of the garage. Maybe that's common now? I flew in and out PWM twice this summer. Both times quite busy. Larger aircraft that result in many of the gate hold area passengers spilling into adjacent gate hold areas. I hope that is accounted for in the upcoming expansion. I flew Delta and American, but the United corner looked like a crowded mess. Maybe it's not an issue during off season months, but it did not look comfortable down there with the summer rush and multiple planes at those gates.

What I was surprised with was the level of disrepair, as unfortunately my eye gets drawn towards. Over the two trips: parking lane gates (had someone handing out tickets), ticketing entry door, baggage claim exit door, escalator to security were all inoperable. Urinals were wrapped up and inoperable, bathroom sink hardware was loose and misaligned, and plenty of cracks, spalling and chunks missing in the concrete floor in the new section. And if you looked toward the ceiling from Gates 7 to 1 in the older section, yikes. Water damaged tiles everywhere, peeling paint, lights out and damaged fixtures and stained carpet when you looked down. Maybe the summer rush is just too much to keep up maintenance. Definitely showing its age and not aging well as the lower gate areas just look tired.

I still think the flight options are impressive and the new portion still looks good, but was curious if others had noticed the overall conditions.
 
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Excellent review DesertMainiac and the wear and tear issues you witnessed have been noted by myself and others. The older portion of the concourse (Gates 1-6) needs a complete makeover including the ceilings and should be improved in a way so it blends in better with the newer addition which is already 12 years old. The white tile flooring was completed a few years ago and did help class that area up which was a huge improvement over the carpet and there has been talk about using the same tile over the concrete sections.

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The train is great if you're actually going into Boston, and even better for a cocktail on the ride home. But yes, using the train if you're going to Logan is nuts. And indeed, there are few people in my life I love enough to pick up at Logan, let alone drive them there. Coming from this direction, with all the city streets with randomly-placed rotaries through Revere? Ugh.
You can get cocktails on the Downeaster now? Do they have a car dedicated to it? Put in a big screen with sports betting and its' now a home run!

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The painting project in front of the terminal has been completed and the use of one color throughout provides a needed dose of uniformity.
 
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The Jetport does the best it can under City budget constraints and federal funding. All of the city's buildings are in poor shape. At least there are new chairs in the sitting area compared to the ripped older chairs they got rid of. The more passengers that fly thru, the more federal money flows through. Remember, the airlines pay for fees, which go to infrastructure. So, the Jetport tries to balance the fees that are charged. The higher the fees, less flights and airlines. Honestly, I am glad the facility was overused, at capacity vs underused. The circular revolving doors are always broken and need parts, but someone at the city decided that these were the best option vs sliding doors.
 
You can get cocktails on the Downeaster now? Do they have a car dedicated to it? Put in a big screen with sports betting and its' now a home run!

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They don't have a fancy lounge car, but the café does pour basic cocktails.

And I still dislike the switch to dark blue.
 
Frontier is bringing back PWM-TPA. Looks like 2x weekly starting the first week of December. Frontier is also returning to BTV after ~2 years

This is definitely a retaliation against Breeze's expansion.
 
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Some pics from my flight leaving this morning. The rugs in the new section are very stained. Lights in the old section could be upgraded. I like the new seating in the old section. Jetbridges are showing its age, but supposedly to be replaced. Expansion area., JetBlue now flying the A220
 

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Good news even though I will miss the A321 versus the 738 but there will at least be an additional 100 seats to ATL. It will also return PWM back to the days not too long ago when there were 3 MD88/90's daily to ATL during the peak season.
 
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Good question, it should be on track to finish by next summer if it weren’t for the neighbors a half mile away complaining about noise NEXT TO AN AIRPORT. As they are the same ones who complain about no parking in the garage… so frustrating how people can delay progress.
 
Sun County published their summer '25 schedule and it looks like MSP-PWM is 4-5x weekly from late June through early September. That's an overall capacity increase and better competition with Delta's daily service.

It also looks like SY dropped MHT after only one season of service. No flights loaded for next year.
 
The only service I'm not seeing for PWM so far is American non stop to DFW? There appears to be more mainline flights to CLT, PHL and DCA so maybe that is the trade off. United is maintaining its non stop service to DEN. (y)
 

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