Portland Maine Airport News

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.