Portland Maine Airport News

The combined on-time performance of Logan International Airport and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport from July 2008 to June 2009 ranked 78th out of 89 metropolitan areas in the nation, according to the report by the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, a division of the Washington, D.C., nonprofit public policy organization that researches ways to improve metro areas.

This year’s performance is a 2 percent improvement from the same time period in 2008, but 4 percent worse than five years ago. The average time for delayed flights was just over an hour, a 20 percent improvement since 2004, according to the study.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, has been working hard to improve the airport’s on-time performance, said spokesman Matthew Brelis. The airport has a new runway that has reduced wind delays, he said, as well as a new taxiway that saves on taxi times and the country’s only market-based congestion-management plan that is activated when airlines schedule more flights than the airport can handle.

But some things are beyond Massport’s control, Brelis said: “Flights to and from our most popular destinations must pass through the New York airspace, the most congested and delayed airspace in the country.’’

Manchester airport officials did not return calls seeking comment.

The Brookings study, titled “Expect Delays,’’ analyzed 19 years of data provided by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on 109 big commercial airports. The study found that the nation’s airports overall are experiencing some of the longest delays in aviation history.

Five commercial airports in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area had the worst on-time performance record, according to the study, with 34 percent of flights arriving an average of 69 minutes late. At Maine’s Portland International Jetport, 27 percent of flights were delayed by an average of 59 minutes, the third poorest record in the country. At Bradley International Airport, outside Hartford, and T.F. Green Airport, near Providence, 21 percent of flights didn’t come in on time. Salt Lake City International Airport had the best on-time record, with only 14 percent of its flights arriving an average of 50 minutes late.

In the study, Logan and Manchester were calculated together per the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s definition of the Boston metropolitan area. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Logan had 148,550 domestic departures from June ’08 to June ’09, while Manchester had 23,475.

Air passenger travel decreased in 2008, a trend that has continued into this year, and airlines have reduced the number of flights, which has boosted recent on-time performance. But as the economy gets stronger and more people start traveling next year, as the Federal Aviation Administration is forecasting, the percentage of late flights will keep inching up, according to the report.

The study is important because it shows a need to improve the performance of a major economic engine, said coauthor Adie Tomer.

“In an increasingly globalizing economy, the ability to connect to major metropolitan hubs and international destinations is critical for our long-term economic health and competitiveness,’’ Tomer said.

To improve airport efficiency, the study recommends that policy makers direct funds to reduce congestion at the country’s busiest airports, construct high-speed rail corridors in heavily traveled corridors, and accelerate the implementation of new technologies, such as a satellite-based air traffic control system.

“Now is the time for the government . . . to sit down and think about how we can make the system more efficient for when those passenger numbers start coming back,’’ Tomer said.

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) — Tired of being regulated by the city, Portlands cab drivers are looking to start a union.

A handful of portland cabbies rallied on the steps of city hall. They say the city has over-regulated their industry for too long and they believe they could do better.

Many drivers are at odds with the city over a proposed change at the Portland Jetport. Currently, the Jetport allows 51 taxis to wait in a designated lot to pick up fares. The changes would drop that number to just 25.

Drivers say that would send those taxis into the city, where there are too many as it is, and there just wouldn’t be enough work to go around.

“Our industry has more potential then they are allowing it,” said Portland cab driver Charles Bragdon. “Because we are so over regulated, we can’t say hey we’re want to give you better service and we are going to do that. Not only are we going to change the way we do things. We are gonna change the way everybody does something and provide a good quality service to the consumer.”

Bragdon says there are currently more than 200 cabs doing business in Portland, thats one cab for every 300 residents. If taxi drivers do form a union, Bragdon says it won’t be until early next year.

PORTLAND — There will be less waiting and less lifting for airline passengers once the Portland International Jetport installs a system that can detect explosives in checked baggage.

The airport has been awarded a $9.2 million federal grant to install the baggage system, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, announced Tuesday.

Jetport officials said the $9.2 million is a key component of a planned $73 million airport expansion.

“This funding will help ensure that state-of-the-art technology is employed to boost security for passengers traveling through Maine’s largest airport,” Collins said in a prepared statement.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has directed more than 30 percent of its allocated stimulus funds to projects around the U.S. Portland’s was one of four airports nationally to receive money Tuesday.

Paul Bradbury, the airport’s director, said the $9.2 million will help pay to integrate the explosive-detection system into the airport expansion.

Construction of a 145,000-square-foot square terminal – which will double the size of the existing terminal – is scheduled to begin next spring.

Bradbury said the new system will let passengers leave baggage at the ticket counter, rather than dragging it to screening machines in the terminal lobby.

Passengers won’t see their baggage again until they disembark from their flights.

A state-of-the-art conveyor system and new explosive-detection units will screen each piece of baggage and sort it by risk potential.

Bags deemed suspicious will be moved to a screen resolution room for further analysis.

Bradbury said the new system will require less personnel, which means some screening agents can be redeployed to the area where passengers’ carry-on bags are screened.

The carry-on security area will be expanded from four to six lanes.

That, combined with more personnel, should shorten waiting periods, Bradbury said.

During the peak morning boarding hour – 6 to 7 a.m. – the jetport can process as many as 550 passengers.

By Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer
PROVIDENCE — Rail service across New England would be faster, include more stops and attract twice as many riders by 2030 under an improvement plan that regional governors have backed while seeking federal stimulus funding for the project.

The plan, announced Monday, integrates transportation projects across the region so the states can compete for some $8 billion in the federal stimulus funding that was set aside by President Obama and Congress for high-speed and intercity rail projects.

The states submitted pre-applications on Friday to request federal grants for the project. James Aloisi Jr., the Massachusetts secretary of transportation, said the plan will cost billions of dollars.

“We think that there’s power in collaboration, and there’s certainly power in numbers,” Aloisi said. “It’s an investment that’s going to make a lot of difference for the region.”

The plan would cut travel time by about 20 to 25 minutes on the Amtrak Downeaster line linking Boston and Portland, Maine, and extend the route to Brunswick, Maine. Transportation officials hope the project will reduce congestion on Interstate 295 and Route 1.

Another major project includes shifting the tracks for the Vermonter service to the west, serving more people on a line running between Springfield, Mass., White River Junction, Vt., and Montreal. A new passenger line would also be constructed linking Boston with Concord and Manchester in New Hampshire. The current track there only moves freight.

Connecticut wants to improve track and replace bridges on the rail line linking New Haven and Hartford with Springfield, Mass. Rhode Island — which is working to bring commuter rail service to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick — wants to add another high-speed track in South Kingstown and renovate an Amtrak station in Providence.

Expanded rail service in western Vermont would connect Burlington, Rutland and Bennington with Albany, N.Y., and New York City.

State officials plan to meet in August to further discuss the project. The impact on the Portland Maine Airport and the Sebago region is unknown.