Portland International Airport

Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah County, by air and by highway northeast of downtown Portland. Portland International Airport is often referred to by its IATA airport code, PDX. The airport covers 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) of land.
Portland International Airport has direct flights to cities throughout the United States and in several other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, and Iceland. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines. It also has a maintenance facility for Alaska Air subsidiary Horizon Air. General aviation services are provided at PDX by Atlantic Aviation. The Oregon Air National Guard has a base on the southwest portion of the airport property grounds, and is also the host unit of the 142nd Fighter Wing (142 FW), which operates the F-15 Eagle. Local transportation includes the MAX Red Line light rail, which takes passengers between PDX and downtown Portland, as well as farther west to Beaverton. There is also Interstate 205, which connects to southwestern Washington (north from PDX) along with many suburbs of Portland (south from PDX).
History
Portland's first airport was the Swan Island Municipal Airport, northwest of downtown Portland on the Willamette River. The Port of Portland purchased and construction began in 1926. Charles Lindbergh flew in and dedicated the new airfield in 1927.
By 1935 it was becoming apparent to the Port of Portland that the airport was becoming obsolete. The small airfield couldn't easily be expanded, nor could it accommodate the larger aircraft and passenger loads expected to become common to Portland. Plans immediately were conceived to relocate the outdated airfield to a larger site. The Swan Island area is now used by the Port of Portland as an industrial park.
Construction and early operations
The Portland City Council purchased the present PDX site in 1936. It was bordered by the Columbia River in the north and the Columbia Slough in the south. The city council issued US$300,000 and asked the Port of Portland to sponsor a US$1.3 million Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to develop the site into a "super airport". The project provided badly needed Great Depression-era jobs. Construction of the airport steadily employed over 1,000 men, and was described by historian Neil Barker as "Portland's most significant public works improvement during the New Deal era". The WPA and Port of Portland faced difficulties in preparing the site for construction because the low-lying area was frequently covered by flood waters from the Columbia River. Workers covered the area with over of sand to help drain it of water, and constructed a series of dikes to control flooding. Two runways capable of serving the modern aircraft of the time were operational by 1941. The airport was designated "Portland–Columbia Airport" to distinguish it from then-operating Swan Island Airport. During World War II, the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces.
The "super airport" had a terminal on the north side, off Marine Drive, and five runways (NE-SW, NW-SE, and an E-W runway forming an asterisk). This configuration was adequate until a new terminal and a longer, east–west runway were constructed in 1952. View airport diagrams: 1955 and 1965
In 1948 the entire airport grounds were flooded during the Vanport Flood, forcing scheduled airline services to reroute to nearby Troutdale Airport. The grounds were under water for several months.
New terminal (1950s)
Portland's first jets were Pan Am 707-321s about October 1959. A new terminal opened in 1959, which for the most part serves as the present facility. The new terminal is located to the east of the original runways, and north of the then-new runway. Construction of a second east–west runway to the north made this a midfield terminal. At this point, all but the NE-SW (3/21) runway in the original "X" were abandoned and turned into taxiways. 3/21 was extended for use as a cross-wind runway. "International" was added to the airport's official designation after the 1950s-era improvements.
The first international nonstop was Western's 720B to Vancouver in 1967. Plans made in 1968 to add a third runway by means of filling in parts of the Columbia River were met with vocal public opposition and scrapped. The airport switched from screening passengers at individual gates to screening all visitors at concourse entrances in 1973 as new FAA regulations went into effect. By 1974, the airport was served by Braniff, Cascade, Continental, Eastern, Hughes Airwest, Northwest Orient, Pan Am, United and Western, and the Seattle route was served by seven airlines with aircraft as large as Boeing 747s. In 1974, the south runway was extended to to service the newest jumbo jets. The terminal building was renovated and expanded in 1977.
United was the dominant carrier at PDX during the regulated era and through the 1980s. Air Oregon started short-haul service from Portland following deregulation in 1978, and by 1979 had routes to seven other cities in Oregon. In April 1983, United Airlines began a flight from Chicago to Tokyo's Narita Airport that stopped in Seattle–Tacoma six days a week and in Portland once a week. The company operated the service with Boeing 747s. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines wanted to add Tokyo to its network, but it lacked aircraft that could fly there nonstop from its Atlanta base. Consequently, the company established a "Pacific gateway" in Portland, a small hub for routes to Asia. Delta began service from Portland to Tokyo in March 1987.
By the 1980s, the terminal building began an extensive renovation in order to update PDX to meet future needs. The ticketing and baggage claim areas were renovated and expanded, and a new Concourse D for Alaska Airlines was added in 1986. Concourse E was first to be reconstructed in 1992, and featured PDX's first moving sidewalks. The Oregon Marketplace, a small shopping mall, was added in the former waiting areas behind the ticket counters. The early 1990s saw a food court and extension added to Concourse C, and the opening of the new Concourse D in 1994. This marked the first concessions inside secured areas, allowing passengers to purchase items without having to be re-screened. An expanded parking garage, new control tower, and canopy over the curbside were finished in the late 1990s. Although hailed by architectural critics, the canopy blocked views of Mount Hood from the curbside. On July 31, 1997, during construction, the garage addition collapsed due to inadequate bolts holding girders together and inadequate securing of structural members, killing three steelworkers.
Delta added domestic flights to Portland to feed the Asia routes. In 1995, the carrier offered nonstop service to Tokyo, Seoul, Nagoya, and Taipei, with the Taipei flight continuing on to Bangkok. It also flew to eight domestic cities, such as Atlanta, New York, and San Francisco. However, Delta faced obstacles to the success of its operation in Portland. These included the 1997 Asian financial crisis and complaints about the treatment of Asian passengers at the immigration facility in Portland, which led to the nickname "Deportland." Moreover, airlines were introducing more flights from the United States to Asia, allowing travelers to bypass the Portland hub. Delta reduced the number of Asian destinations to two, Tokyo and Nagoya. It finally closed the hub in March 2001 due to financial losses. The move left the airport without transpacific air service.
The present H-shape of the PDX terminal, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, was completed on September 10, 2001, when the new A, B and C concourses, as well as the light rail line, were finished. Probably the most stunning portion of PDX's interior, the new concourses reflect a Northwest theme, focusing heavily on the nearby Columbia River. A huge celebration was to be held the following weekend, but the September 11 attacks interceded. The new concourses, designed to be public spaces, were closed to non-passengers.
Lufthansa started direct flights to Frankfurt in March 2003. The route was operated by Airbus A340s. In June 2004, Northwest Airlines introduced nonstop service to its hub at Tokyo-Narita aboard a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In order to funnel passengers from other American cities onto the flight, Northwest made use of its partnerships with four other carriers instead of adding its own domestic routes to Portland. This strategy was less costly than Delta's.
In August 2005, the concourse connector was opened. This is a long hallway on the secure side of the airport that connects the A, B and C concourses to the D and E concourses on the other side of the airport. If there is a long line at the checkpoint at one end of the airport, passengers may use the other checkpoint and walk through the connector to their desired concourse. The connector closed permanently on January 5, 2021, to make room for terminal expansion.
The airport's carpet, installed in 1987, was designed to stylize the criss-crossing north and south runways. Beginning in 2014, a new design replaced the original pattern. In response, many residents created products to celebrate the carpet as a local icon.
In December 2016, The Port of Portland renovated the security checkpoints and immigration facilities as part of its PDXNext project. This included the relocation, and wider of the exit lanes by the security checkpoints and upgraded security on both sides of the terminal.
Terminal expansion (2020s)
In the latter half of 2016, the Port of Portland and several airlines at PDX approved a project intended to balance the use of the terminal and concourses at Portland International Airport. The subsequent project extended Concourse E by and added 6 new gates to the facility. After the project, Southwest Airlines relocated its operations from Concourse C to the newly expanded Concourse E, alongside United Airlines. With the relocation of Southwest Airlines to Concourse E, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways became the primary users of Concourses B and C. Construction on this project began in the spring of 2017 and opened to passengers on July 15, 2020.
Concourse A was demolished in November 2019 due to the age and space of the structure and was replaced by an expanded Concourse B. The extension featured 4 jet bridges, 6 ground loading zones, and improved concession stands. All Horizon operations that operated out of Concourse A was temporarily moved to Concourse C until the expanded Concourse B was completed. The new concourse opened on December 8, 2021.
In March 2020, the main terminal began a 5-year expansion process to generate more open space in the pre-security area and an expansion of 150 feet toward the west. The Concourse Connector was closed in January 2021 and the Clocktower Plaza closed 3 months later to make room for the expansion. During construction, the remains of the concourse connector will be reused for passengers to bypass the construction zone to get to concourses C and D. Construction of the new main terminal is expected to be complete by May 2024.
Facilities
The airport has one passenger terminal composed of four concourses, which are designated B, C, D, and E. There are 60 gates in total. The international section of Concourse D was renamed the Governor Victor G. Atiyeh International Concourse to honor the former Oregon governor, who was also known as "Trader Vic" for launching international tourism and trade initiatives during his gubernatorial term.
The Port of Portland requires all airport shops and restaurants to practice fair retail pricing—businesses are not allowed to charge more than at off-airport locations. Unique amenities include a microcinema run by the Hollywood Theatre; it shows free short films by Portland-based filmmakers that are primarily focused on the culture of the Pacific Northwest. The terminal also houses a distillery. In the pre-security area, there are several local food carts. In addition, the lower terminal roadway near the TriMet MAX Red Line station has a work station and assembly for repairing bicycles. The Oregon Welcome Center also has a "Tool check-out".
Jet fuel is supplied via the Portland Jet Line, an Kinder Morgan fuel pipeline running from the Northwest Industrial area of Portland's Willbridge Terminal to the airport. Willbridge contains 40 tanks, connected to the Olympic pipeline and Eugene pipeline, BNSF rail, truck, and ships.
Airlines and destinations
Cargo
Statistics
Top destinations
Airline market share
Annual traffic
Ground transportation
Public transit service to the airport is provided by TriMet, the metropolitan area's primary transit agency, with its MAX Red Line light rail service. During late nights, service is provided by the 272-PDX Night Bus route. The 1986-opened MAX Light Rail system was extended to the airport in 2001. The Red Line originally provided service as far as downtown Portland only, but in 2003 it was extended west to Beaverton. The light rail station is located only about from the airport's baggage claim area. Prior to 2001, TriMet service to the airport consisted of bus route 72-82nd Avenue from 1970 to 1986, and route 12-Sandy Blvd. from 1986 to 2001.
C-Tran route 67 bus connects the airport to Fisher's Landing Transit Center in east Vancouver, Washington.
By road, the terminal is accessible from exit 24 on Interstate 205.
Accidents and incidents
On October 1, 1966, West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashed in a desolate section of the Mount Hood National Forest during descent into Portland International Airport. Of the 18 passengers and crew, there were no survivors. The probable cause of the accident was "the descent of the aircraft below its clearance limit and below that of surrounding obstructing terrain, but the Board was unable to determine the cause of such descent." The accident was the first loss of a Douglas DC-9.
On December 28, 1978, United Airlines Flight 173 was en route to Portland International Airport from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. On approach to Portland International Airport, the crew lowered the landing gear which caused a loud thump, abnormal vibration, unusual yaw, and the landing gear indicator lights failed to light. The plane circled Portland while the crew investigated the problem. After about an hour, the plane exhausted its fuel supply and crashed into the suburban neighborhood of East Burnside Street and NE 158th Ave. Of the 189 passengers and crew on board, ten died and 24 more were injured. An investigation revealed that the crash was caused by "the failure of the captain to properly monitor the aircraft's fuel state". This accident's investigation led to substantially improved aviation safety by widespread adoption of crew resource management which emphasizes crew teamwork and communication instead of a command hierarchy.
On February 16, 2008, visibility of 1/8 mile was a possible factor in the fatal accident that took the life of the pilot, Oregon doctor Richard Otoski, a Klamath Falls dermatologist flying his Columbia 400. The accident took place just short of runway 10R at Portland International Airport. Otoski was the only person on board the aircraft, manufactured by the former Lancair Company. "Damn it... we're gonna crash" were the last words PDX controllers heard from N621ER. The aircraft was apparently in the process of making another missed approach in poor visibility following the ILS when it clipped an airport perimeter fence, crashed, and soon caught fire. The aircraft had departed from Klamath Falls 90 minutes earlier.
See also
Oregon World War II Army Airfields
Pearson Field
Portland-Mulino Airport
Tourism in Portland, Oregon
Western Air Defense Force
References
External links
Airport Wayfinder: Interactive video guide and detailed information about Portland International Airport
1936 establishments in Oregon
Airports established in 1936
Airports in Multnomah County, Oregon
Airports in Portland, Oregon
Northeast Portland, Oregon
Port of Portland (Oregon)
Works Progress Administration in Oregon