Portland International Airport (PDX) News

[mhays]

Southwest appears to be changing all sorts of operational approaches toward industry-typical, from assigned seats to a new flight map. This is apparently related to poor recent profitability and actions by a major shareholder.

PDX is doing ok compared statistically to a lot of airports. It's a legit hub. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati for example don't have hubs, and are in the 10 million passenger range. San Antonio and Kansas City are only 11-12.

[babs]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

I wonder why giving up on their major Chicago hub then? This is what I expect from a small city, not a major metro like Portland. And west bound flight getting in at 12:30am, scheduled. Oof that’s terrible.

And based on prior year numbers, SW decreased pdx overall, whereas Alaska jumped.

SWA has always cut their flying to MDW during the winter months.

[maccoinnich]

From the Port of Portland’s Performance Goals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 for Executive Director Curtis Robinhold:

International Commercial Air Service to Asia obtained through partnership with a major carrier and alignment with Oregon trade and tourism partners to support such a linkage financially. Initial steps concluded in next phase of air service enhancement: direct service to Mexico City.

Taken from page 9 of yesterday’s Commission meeting agenda.

[maccoinnich]

July 2025 Statistics for PDX are out. July '25 was up 6.7% over July '24, and YTD '25 up 7.5% over YTD '24.

International passengers were down -19.5% in July, although British Airways was up 6% and Icelandair basically flat. KLM carried 78% the number of passengers as BA with 71% of the frequency (though sure they many available seats they have compared to BA though).

AAG's buildup at Portland appears to be working, with Alaska mainline up 26%, Hawaiian up 19%, Horizon up 7% and Skywest up 50%.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

July 2025 Statistics for PDX are out. July '25 was up 6.7% over July '24, and YTD '25 up 7.5% over YTD '24.

International passengers were down -19.5% in July, although British Airways was up 6% and Icelandair basically flat. KLM carried 78% the number of passengers as BA with 71% of the frequency (though sure they many available seats they have compared to BA though).

AAG's buildup at Portland appears to be working, with Alaska mainline up 26%, Hawaiian up 19%, Horizon up 7% and Skywest up 50%.

Alaska total gained 7% market share in just a year, seems like a lot in a short time. Very interesting strategy by all of the airlines. AS+ is up 7%, but Southwest and Delta down 3%+ and United down 2% among the majors. Divergent strategies I guess. (American up too slightly, maybe due to AS connections?).

Also looks like the low cost carriers are all down considerably. Gonna be a dominant AS hub soon enough, for good and bad.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Alaska total gained 7% market share in just a year, seems like a lot in a short time. Very interesting strategy by all of the airlines. AS+ is up 7%, but Southwest and Delta down 3%+ and United down 2% among the majors. Divergent strategies I guess. (American up too slightly, maybe due to AS connections?).

Also looks like the low cost carriers are all down considerably. Gonna be a dominant AS hub soon enough, for good and bad.

Worth noting that if you combine the Delta and KLM numbers—which I think is fair, especially given that the two are in a transatlantic joint venture—the monthly passengers for July would be up over 2024, and the year-to-date passengers only barely down over 2024.

Of the low cost carriers it's Spirit that's down the most, and it remains to be seen whether Spirit will even exist a year from now. And while Frontier is down, Allegiant has grown a fair bit this year.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Worth noting that if you combine the Delta and KLM numbers—which I think is fair, especially given that the two are in a transatlantic joint venture—the monthly passengers for July would be up over 2024, and the year-to-date passengers only barely down over 2024.

Of the low cost carriers it's Spirit that's down the most, and it remains to be seen whether Spirit will even exist a year from now. And while Frontier is down, Allegiant has grown a fair bit this year.

Good point. WestJet had a fairly large decrease though, that must have driven the overall decrease. Maybe it would be good to think about it as continental-international decreased whereas transcontinental increased.

For the good side of AS bumping up the hub (obvious downside being flight prices when one airline gains too much capacity at an airport), I am really hoping for international. I keep seeing all these new SEA to International places being advertised on my Alaska account (London, Rome, Tokyo, Seoul, Reykjavik) and just hoping we can get in on some of that. That's a huge step into international fights from Seattle in a short time frame. Suddenly they can fly international N/S, using Alaska miles, and not having to deal with partner airline award seats.

[dizflip]

Spirit Airlines is ending service to Portland
Author: John Tanet
Published: 7:31 AM PDT September 4, 2025
Updated: 7:43 AM PDT September 4, 2025

PORTLAND, Ore. — Spirit Airlines announced Thursday that it will be ending flight service to a dozen cities across the country, including Portland, Oregon, NBC reported.

The announcement came just a week after the ultra low-cost airline announced that it was filing for bankruptcy for a second time. Although Spirit has said that it plans to keep flying as usual during the restructuring process, its $2.4 billion in long-term debt makes for an uncertain future for the company.

Source: https://www.kgw.com/article/travel/spiri...283-44ecf392-7e64-4a41-a7fe-659a9fb1cdab

[PhillyPDX]

Come on, bring some of these planes to PDX!

https://onemileatatime.com/news/alaska-airlines-boeing-787-10/

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Come on, bring some of these planes to PDX!

https://onemileatatime.com/news/alaska-airlines-boeing-787-10/

I would love to see PDX land more long haul flights, but it doesn't look like that will happen with Alaska shifting more regional flights to PDX and focusing on SEA for their long haul operations.

I'm really hoping for more regular regional flights to airports like LGB and San Diego. You're stuck with very few direct options at those airports to/from PDX currently. Southwest was great for both destinations at one point. I flew Alaska Airlines direct from San Diego last month and ended up on what had to be one of the oldest still operating 737 planes in Alaska's fleet. Panels were coming off, the wifi was spotty at best and the seats sucked. It felt like I was on Spirit airlines flight.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

I would love to see PDX land more long haul flights, but it doesn't look like that will happen with Alaska shifting more regional flights to PDX and focusing on SEA for their long haul operations.

I'm really hoping for more regular regional flights to airports like LGB and San Diego. You're stuck with very few direct options at those airports to/from PDX currently. Southwest was great for both destinations at one point. I flew Alaska Airlines direct from San Diego last month and ended up on what had to be one of the oldest still operating 737 planes in Alaska's fleet. Panels were coming off, the wifi was spotty at best and the seats sucked. It felt like I was on Spirit airlines flight.

Will be interesting to see with Spirit going under (soon enough). If Alaska gets some of that capacity, maybe they could fill international flights. But then of course we lose low fare competition to keep Alaska in check on prices. So maybe it's better for Frontier to take those on.

[maccoinnich]

Based on a search of klm.com, it looks like service from Amsterdam is returning to daily next summer (starting March 29th).

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Based on a search of klm.com, it looks like service from Amsterdam is returning to daily next summer (starting March 29th).

Good to see KLM doing well taking over this route. Perhaps some more Delta routes/ frequencies will develop to feed this.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Good to see KLM doing well taking over this route. Perhaps some more Delta routes/ frequencies will develop to feed this.

User @IshrionA on X reported the following:

KLM - Increase Portland (PDX) 5 to 7x weekly in Summer 2026
Icelandair - Portland (PDX) will increase to 7x weekly in Summer 2026

[maccoinnich]

August 2025 Statistics for PDX are out. Total passengers are up 5.1% in August and 7.1% year-to-date, although international passengers are down 15.5% in August and 10.7% year-to-date.

AAG continues to grow, with Alaska mainline up 26% in August, Hawaiian up 21%, Horizon up 18% and Skywest up 21%.

Although international numbers are down, British Airways is up 9%, Icelandair up 8% and Condor only down 1%. The big area of international decline seems to be service from Canada.

[tworivers]

Although international numbers are down, British Airways is up 9%, Icelandair up 8% and Condor only down 1%. The big area of international decline seems to be service from Canada.

Do you think this might be due to the political situation (Canadians avoiding the US) or is it reflective of lower capacity? I for one would love a direct flight to Montreal, although I think we once had a seasonal flight to Toronto that no longer exists.

[maccoinnich]

I'd imagine a bit of both. Air Canada announced the cancellation of the service to Portland from Toronto back in November, before anyone knew we'd be in a trade war with Canada. The people who were using that flight (whether to travel to Toronto, or connect from there on to destinations in Europe) may now be taking a domestic connection.

[tworivers]

That makes sense. I stumbled across this WW article right after I posted earlier: Canadians and Other International Tourists Shun Oregon This Summer

[maccoinnich]

Details for PDX 2045 Open House #2:

Overview

The Port of Portland is hosting an open house for PDX 2045. Community input is critical to ensuring that we accommodate growth in a way that benefits the people who live and work here.

The open house is a drop-in opportunity where people can learn about PDX 2045, talk with the team, and provide input on how PDX will accommodate growth expected over the next 20 years. This open house will cover alternatives for:

• Airfield – Runway considerations, including the possible closure of the Crosswind Runway.
• Terminal and International Arrivals Facility – Adding gates and expanding areas for arriving international passengers.
• Parking – Meeting future employee and public parking demand.
• Passenger Pick-Up and Drop-Off – Strategies for increasing capacity for picking up and dropping off passengers.
• Support Facilities – Facility needs for employees, maintenance, cargo, and other airport operations.

We want to hear from you!

Our survey is open beginning Oct. 14. You’ll see more information about the different options to meet demand. We want your input on how each option would work for you, which factors matter most, and if there are any questions or concerns you’d like the team to consider.

Check back here to take the survey.

Events

Would you like to learn more from the project team directly? Check out our events below.

Join us in person

Open House, October 14, 2025
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
University of Oregon Portland, 2800 NE Liberty St #227, Portland, OR 97211 (map)

Join us online

Webinar, October 21, 2025
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Check back here for the Zoom link

[maccoinnich]

PDX 2045 Open House 2 Survey is live.