Portland International Jetport | PWM

[Portlander]

33 mainline flights to 18 different locations out of PWM today!

 

[Portlander]

After many years of trying to expand and having to fight an avalanche of court battles, HVN can finally move forward with its new terminal project and must needed runway extension. Of course numerous permits and approvals still must be met prior to any future groundbreaking. Weight limits are impactful with shorter runways and reducing the amount of passengers and fuel are vital for safety and even our 6100' secondary runway is an improvement over Tweed's current situation.

 

[PWMFlyer]

There was talk to extend at the end of 29 about 600 ft , to give the Length to 7800. The angle of the runway is higher at the end of 11 than 29,. Options were looked at to tunnel the road in front of 11 to allow for longer length. The water table is high at that end which is an issue.

 

[Portlander]

The eastern option at 29 was kicked around years ago and would have been the less costly and least disruptive project of the two. An additional 600 feet for take offs only on runway 29 would have been helpful but the idea was shelved due to the improved performance of newer aircraft as Cosakita has pointed out. Johnson Road was already rerouted further west to accommodate the modest 400' extension in 2004 and any effort to extend the runway today would be met with fierce opposition from the neighborhood groups.

 

[PWMFlyer]

The jetport had one of these several years ago when the contract I think went to HMS Host. Now with bigger planes coming to PWM and now service to LAX and SFO, doesn't it make sense to use these after food options are upgraded?

 

[MarkHB]

The eastern option at 29 was kicked around years ago and would have been the less costly and least disruptive project of the two. An additional 600 feet for take offs only on runway 29 would have been helpful but the idea was shelved due to the improved performance of newer aircraft as Cosakita has pointed out. Johnson Road was already rerouted further west to accommodate the modest 400' extension in 2004 and any effort to extend the runway today would be met with fierce opposition from the neighborhood groups.

Flyer is right about the water table at the western end; that whole area is a sea of cattails. Trying to extend there would probably require putting both Western Ave. and the Turnpike into tunnels, which would be highly expensive and can we even do that these days with modern security concerns?
I would ask, given our load factors, and the fact that we can already handle a 737-MAX 8 on the longest scheduled route we have ever had, what would be the practical benefit of lengthening the runway again? (Other than pure safety overhead.)

 

[Portlander]

Now with bigger planes coming to PWM and now service to LAX and SFO

The size of the planes are not any larger, just more efficient. PWM used to get 757, 727 and MD80/90 aircraft on a daily basis when I worked the ramp for Delta prior to the runway being extended. The difference today is the percentage of mainline aircraft (over 30 a day peak) when 20 years ago most of flights utilized regional jets along with some prop aircraft. Mark is on point, other than for safety reasons there really is no need to lengthen the runway in the future.

 

[Stlin]

The jetport had one of these several years ago when the contract I think went to HMS Host. Now with bigger planes coming to PWM and now service to LAX and SFO, doesn't it make sense to use these after food options are upgraded? View attachment 74313

Do carriers do cart swaps at PWM? I don't know that there's enough call at PWM for cart swaps for drinks and snacks when for most airlines PWM is just a quick turn. They often don't restock at outstations like PWM - they do downline catering, where the plane brings in what it'd need for the return - ie, the morning SFO-PWM flight brings a full set of drinks meals etc for its 6pm return, and if the plane sits overnight, it'll only have shelf stable meals for the morning return. Even as Breeze runs point to point, everything on board is non perishable and their planes are never more than a flight or two from an airport with full catering services, and they can just ask the rampers for fresh bags of ice.

I mean... at that point you're very nearly asking for the implementation of a full flight kitchen, which is a much bigger lift, but honestly might be a prerequisite for more longer flights. That said, it's not unheard of for off-airport services to do catering for the limited number of flights that'd need it - I've heard tale of restaurants & commercial catering kitchens getting contracts to do first class meals, where the truck goes off-site to load up meal carts, but that's just relatively uncommon. (Apparently, JAL and the other Japanese carriers tend to source their premium meals from good local Japanese restaurants)

 

[Portlander]

and if the plane sits overnight, it'll only have shelf stable meals for the morning return

You are correct particularly when it comes to Delta flights out of PWM. When I have flown first class to ATL on the 5:30 AM departure you receive basically a "Lunchables" in a fancy box which is not even breakfast related. However, when I've flown first class to MSP in the early afternoon you receive a plated hot meal which I don't think is prepared by HMS Host in Portland. Most airlines have strict meal guidelines when it comes domestic first class and with Delta the flight has to exceed 900 miles and depart prior to 9 PM.

 

[Cosakita18]

Quite a bit of action at BGR tonight!

Severe storms in the NYC area forced a lot of transatlantic flights to divert. BGR received two 777s, and one 767 from United and an Icelandair A321. Just yesterday it received a Swiss A330 diversion as well.

If only PWM had a longer runway and a bigger apron, we could be getting some of this action

 

[Portlander]

Bangor has the Air Force to thank for its 11,440' runway which was built in 1958. As a kid I lived in the military housing just outside the airport while my father was serving in Vietnam and I remember watching B-52's land and take off prior to the base being transferred to the city in 1969.

 

[MarkHB]

Thanks to your Dad for his service.

How long is the runway at Brunswick? I don't know how much of an FBO operation they have but I would see them as an emergency pit stop before Portland.

 

[Cosakita18]

How long is the runway at Brunswick? I don't know how much of an FBO operation they have but I would see them as an emergency pit stop before Portland.

Surprisingly short, only 8,000 ft. Although it could easily be extended another ~1,000 feet to the south should there ever be demand.

One thing Brunswick has that PWM lacks is tons and tons of apron space.

Brunswick actually receives A320s and 737s on a fairly regular basis…but they’re on one-way trips. There’s a company at Brunswick landing that strips and refurbishes components from retired airliners from all over the world. You can do some interesting plane spotting there surprisingly!

 

[Stlin]

I don't think Brunswick would be on any major passenger carriers list of diversion airports, simply because it lacks services and ground staff - there's no gate agents / ground handling etc, or even potentially a stair truck to get passengers off the plane. That goes double for wide-bodies - not every airport has a stair truck that can even reach that high. Bangor happens to have a proper widebody gate with jet bridge, staff from all 3 major airline alliances they can lean on, and staffed ARFF.

I have a friend who's a captain at a legacy carrier, and theres apparently a strong preference for an "on-line" (served by the airline) airport as their declared alternates. For anything short of "in flight emergency," they will often fly past acceptable runways for weather diversions, because once they land it doesn't have the other services they'd need. Even if its an offline airport, airports like PSM have baseline passenger amenities and services available, plus index E arff, and the stairs and ancillaries to support wide-bodies thanks to its military role. Does PWM even have gates suitable for wide-bodies?

 

[MarkHB]

Does PWM even have gates suitable for wide-bodies?

Considering that one trying to take off would probably either skid into the river or create a disaster on the Turnpike, probably not

Speaking of having reps from the alliances available, a couple of years ago I was flying out of LHR and our plane was out on a remote pad. Since my son uses a wheelchair, we couldn't go out to it in the regular buses, so we and other disabled passengers went out in, essentially, an IAD-style moon buggy with a lift built in... And then we had to wait and wait, because that particular airline only allows their own personnel to touch their planes, so they had to go find someone to bring out to open the door for us!

 

[Stlin]

Speaking of having reps from the alliances available, a couple of years ago I was flying out of LHR and our plane was out on a remote pad. Since my son uses a wheelchair, we couldn't go out to it in the regular buses, so we and other disabled passengers went out in, essentially, an IAD-style moon buggy with a lift built in... And then we had to wait and wait, because that particular airline only allows their own personnel to touch their planes, so they had to go find someone to bring out to open the door for us!

Yea that's definitely part of it - really any passenger service airport should probably have something like that, even if its not a full "ambulift" like a major airport would have, they make smaller ones that are more akin to a scissor lift on a belt loader esque chassis, or are just towable.

Considering that one trying to take off would probably either skid into the river or create a disaster on the Turnpike, probably not

Hey, you guys do get the semi-regular Fedex/UPS a300, so the airfield is at least capable of handling it. Plus, given FAA statistics, sporadically something like a340, a 773 and a few 744s has turned up at PWM, even if I can't find the photo proof.

 

[Portlander]

The Globemaster 3 (C17) has been to PWM in the past during presidential visits because it transports "The Beast" and related Secret Service equipment. No issues with it landing at PWM fully loaded but it appears that some fuel weight savings (Portland to Andrews) are in order for takeoffs. I think the actual Air Force One aircraft used for Portland in the past was the 757 version.

 

[PWMFlyer]

Eastern Airlines 767 flew into PWM as a charter, and Obama flew airforce one 747 into PVD before the runway extension

 

[Portlander]

An updated service chart for all of the 14 gates at PWM. All of our boarding bridges can accommodate a 757, but only Gates 2, 3 and 5 have sufficient apron clearances and markings to support the aircraft. New jetways will be arriving this fall for Gates 3 through 7 and this table also shows the current airline breakdown for each gate at the top.

 

[RandomWalk]

That feels out of date. JetBlue dropped the E190 last fall, and they prefer the CS300 now.