History of the Portland International Jetport

Like many community airports, Portland International Jetport had its beginnings as a flying fan’s private field. Today, the facility serves over 1.6 million passengers a year, flying on the most modern equipment of most of the major airlines. In the late 1920s, Dr. Clifford “Kip” Strange first created space on his extensive Portland land for his Curtiss Jenny. Before long, there were a couple of grass runways on his land that attracted other flyers.

Meanwhile, Boston & Maine Airways inaugurated airline service at the Portland facility when it moved there from Scarborough, Maine, on December 17, 1934. A Portland Chamber of Commerce project had produced the Scarborough airport in 1931. Aero historian Leo Boyle notes that the beginnings of today’s extensive Portland facility really took place when the City of Portland bought the airfield in 1936 and built a third runway.

Air shows were big during the 1930s, and Boyle recalls some colorful characters and events that also drew attention. Fixed-base operator Milton Smith, who founded Northeast Airways (now Northeast Airmotive), was a well-known aircraft dealer. His rival was Harold Troxel of Portland Flying Service. The two never cared much for each other, and used to engage in dogfights over the airport. Every once in a while the Federal Aviation Administration would get a call about their antics.

The War Years and After
In 1940, the depression-era Works Progress Administration built Portland’s first real terminal, a brick structure that now is the general aviation terminal. During WorldWar II, the airport was closed to most civilian traffic, but was visited by numerous lend-lease aircraft on their way to Canada.

When U.S. neutrality forbade cross-border flights, the Canada-bound planes would fly from Portland to Houlton, Maine, and were then towed into Canada by horses or tractors. Among the interesting aircraft that came through were Curtiss Helldivers, which were put on a French aircraft carrier that was diverted to Martinique when France fell to the Nazis. The planes rotted away on a sunny hillside and were never flown in the war. The Portland airport was also the base for Civil Air Patrol planes that searched coastal waters for enemy submarines.

Following the war, Troxel renewed his rivalry with Smith when he founded the Port-au-Maine Airport in Scarborough. However, Troxel’s airfield was in the flight path for the Portland facility, and eventually was sold for industrial development. The Portland International Jetport began to take its existing form in the 1950s and 1960s. The present main runway was built in 1957 and lengthened in 1966. The basic layout of the airport as it now exists was completed with the opening of the current terminal building on December 8, 1968, when jet aircraft arrived. The terminal has been expanded at least twice since then.

For many years, Northeast Airlines was the commercial mainstay in Portland. It was a big event when Northeast won a Florida route, beginning the spring vacation tradition. Northeast’s DC6B piston-driven planes, called Sunliners, were succeeded by Vickers Viscount prop jets; then, in 1968, with the arrival of the jet age, DC9s became the dominant aircraft. The “yellow bird” jets sported the unusual color scheme of yellow and white.

The only other airline in Portland over those years was Bar Harbor Air-lines. Northeast was bought in 1972 by Delta Airlines, which remains one of the major carriers at the jetport. The 1970s and 1980s saw the influx of other airlines, and the airport really began growing in 1983.

As the jetport has changed over the years, its connection to the past has continued to remain alive and well. In addition to setting in motion the events that gave way to today’s modern jetport facility, the Strange family developed a long history with aviation. Daughter Beth became an airline flight attendant and married a Northeast Airlines pilot.

In later years, son Neal maintained a floatplane at his home in Raymond, Maine, and grandson Keith operated a seaplane base in Lincoln, Maine. One other prominent thing that has not changed is the designation of Portland International Jetport as PWM. That harks back to the early days, when airline pilots would follow beacon lights from airport to airport.

The last light before Portland was at Westbrook, 10 miles to the west, so the initials PWM were derived from Portland-Westbrook-Municipal.

The Future
Today, the extensive plans for improvements at Portland International Jetport are tied more to continuing modernization and new safety regulations than to an expectation of a surge in growth. With a consistent annual increase in passengers over the past few years and much higher volume of air cargo, business is closely tied to the economy. Because of this, a 10-year capital program will proceed to improve the airport’s current facilities.

The enhancements will be carefully designed to continue the airport’s value as an asset to business travelers and the traveling public, as well as to the area’s thriving economy in general–as witnessed by the opening of Maine Turnpike Exit 7a, which links the jetport to Maine’s most important roadway. Plans for the jetport’s future include lengthening the primary runway by 400 feet; in-pavement runway lighting to improve low-visibility conditions; a new, 1,500-space parking garage; and expansion of the terminal and baggage claim facilities.

Airport managers and planners are very conscious of the jetport as part of the community and its growth. While the facility is positioned as a one-stop service to the world, and as Maine’s strategic link to the global economy, the staff is proud that the jetport has been a part of the community over all of its years of service. Paul Bradbury, airport director, points to the convenient proximity of gates, baggage, and parking to each other as much as he talks of the direct jet service to most of the hub airports in the eastern half of the United States. “As we continue to develop a modern airport, we attempt to preserve the small-town feel of Maine,” Bradbury says. “And we will maintain that feel.”