Portland Jetport plans nearly $5 million in improvements

On By Karl

An American Eagle flight departs from Portland International Jetport in April. Gregory Registration/Staff Photographer

Portland International Jetport plans to spend about $5 million to improve the passenger terminal building, parking lot and flight path over residential areas.

Jetport officials are seeking City Council approval to use $4.75 million in cash reserves for various maintenance and repair projects at Maine’s largest airport. These include a new terminal roof ($600,000), security camera system ($800,000), gate concourse carpet ($300,000) and outbound baggage handling system ($1.6 million).

In the parking garage, plans are planned to paint and make fireproof the structural steel on the lower floor ($850,000) and to upgrade the elevator equipment ($600,000).

Airport director Paul Bradbury said the funding would come from the jetport’s unrestricted cash fund, which currently holds $39.1 million. This will have no impact on the city’s general fund budget or tax rate.

“We have postponed many projects due to reduced travel during the pandemic,” Bradbury said. “This will allow us to catch up.”

The funding request is on the council’s agenda for first reading on Monday. It requires a second reading at a future meeting.

Bradbury said the passenger terminal was built over decades, with the oldest section built in 1967 and the newest section built in 2012.

“Parts of the terminal building roof have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced,” Bradbury said in a memo to council. “The CCTV camera network and outbound baggage handling system are now over 12 years old and require significant software, hardware and control updates.”

The oldest parking structure at the jetport is now more than 20 years old, he said.

“Lower-grade structural steel requires removal and replacement of existing fire-resistant coating and application of an anti-corrosion paint,” he said. “This project will also address water infiltration, which causes corrosion of structural steel and damage to existing fire protection.”

ABOUT AIRPLANE NOISE

Also at Monday’s 5 p.m. council meeting, Bradbury is asking for $75,000 in unrestricted funds to develop a new overwater approach to address flight noise complaints from residential areas.

The jetport’s Noise Advisory Committee, the council’s standing committee, has been developing a new approach procedure since 2022. At its meeting on October 10, it voted to request funds to formalize the procedure.

Bradbury said the new special instrument approach procedure will allow aircraft to remain over Casco Bay and the Fore River when visibility is low, wind or traffic conditions require an approach from the east. The new procedure can be applied day and night and will follow a distance of less than 0.3 nautical miles.

“This procedure will reduce the impacts of aircraft noise on residential areas in South Portland and Peaks Island,” he said.

Instrument approach procedures outline approved flight paths, navigation aids and other details needed to land safely at an airport when pilots must rely on instrument panels, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Pilots access these procedures through aeronautical charts available electronically through flight management systems.

Bradbury said the new approach procedure proposed for the jetport would replace the current approach, which can only be used during daylight and in clear conditions and has a visibility of at least 4 miles.

He also said no currently existing procedures meet the advisory committee’s goal of having a fully above-water approach available at all hours.

Bradbury said the proposed procedure is fully consistent with the committee’s stated goal of “maximizing the flight of compatible areas such as non-residential areas, commercial/industrial areas, the Fore River and Casco Bay waters.”

Under Bradbury’s proposal, the new procedure would be developed by Flight Tech Engineering in Englewood, Colorado, in coordination with Vianair aviation software.

Bradbury said it will be available for sale within a year and that he will initially own and maintain the jetport. It is likely to become a public procedure maintained by the FAA in the future.

The funding request for the new approach procedure also requires a second reading at a future meeting.