A recent story (Oct. 10, Page A1) described cuts in the number of JetBlue flights to Portland International Jetport from Kennedy International Airport in New York, and from Portland to JFK.
Some decrease in passenger volume is cited as one reason, along with increased competition from new carriers and from the merger of older carriers. I would like to respectfully shine a light on another hypothesis.
If travelers are returning to the U.S. East Coast on any airline from Europe or Scandinavia and they are delayed for myriad reasons, primarily weather-related, they will, many times, encounter delays. Even with several carriers flying to Portland from Kennedy or Washington, D.C., you arrive here, if on schedule, between 11 p.m. and midnight. Portland is way up here.
If the Portland jetport were truly international, we would, first, have 24-hour U.S. Customs and Immigration staffing. We would, perhaps, have service to and from Iceland, via Icelandair. That would provide connections to and from Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm, to start.
And maybe we would arrive home earlier or welcome family and friends here with a bit more joie de vivre in our eyes and theirs.
Dennis Marrotte
Westbrook
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