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Thursday, March, 2, 2000

Pan Am kicks off Bangor-Florida run
By Roxanne Moore Saucier, Of the NEWS Staff

BANGOR — If passengers checking in Wednesday at Bangor International Airport weren’t already ‘‘In the Mood’’ to fly somewhere ‘‘Over the Rainbow,’’ the Bangor High Jazz Band took care of that.  The young musicians were on hand to lend an air of festivity to ceremonies heralding the inaugural flight of Pan American Airways from Bangor to Sanford-Orlando, Fla., by way of Pan Am’s headquarters in Portsmouth, N.H.  Maine Transportation Commissioner John Melrose and Bureau of Tourism Director Dann Lewis joined officials from Bangor and Brewer, as well as organizations and businesses throughout the area, for the kickoff.

The Clipper Portsmouth, a 727 jet reconfigured to allow passengers more room than the average aircraft, left Bangor at 9:40 a.m.

‘‘It just doesn’t get any better than this,’’ commented Pan Am president David Fink. And then it did get better.

Fink went on to confirm that Pan Am would institute a Bangor-Pittsburgh flight by May 1, with reservations accepted beginning March 8.

Pan Am also has received presentations from at least one New Brunswick airport for a possible flight that would stop in Bangor for passengers to clear U.S. Customs, he acknowledged. Representatives from Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick, attended Wednesday’s event in Bangor.

Pan Am also has received requests for a flight to Washington, D.C., a request Fink said

he would like to fill if Pan Am could obtain the necessary ‘‘slot’’ in an airport in the nation’s capital. Washington is one of the major hubs that has restrictions on the number of flights that can land there.

Both Gail Kelley, speaking for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, and Judy Cuddy, representing U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, said that their bosses would work on trying to get a slot for a Washington flight from Bangor. U.S. Rep. John Baldacci also was represented at Wednesday’s event, by his mother, Rosemary Baldacci.

‘‘We see Bangor as a growth area,’’ Fink said. ‘‘We see New England as a growth area. We see Maine as a growth area’’ in the air industry.

‘‘What a great day for Bangor,’’ said City Councilor Gerry Palmer, chairman of the airport committee.

Fink and co-owner Timothy Mellon bought Pan Am from bankruptcy in 1988 and have put the familiar blue-and-white globe logo on the airplanes and other equipment.

The original Pan Am was ‘‘an historic carrier,’’ Palmer noted, describing it as an organization that ‘‘single-handedly opened up the Pacific to trade, and to travel.’’

The plane to Sanford-Orlando will leave Bangor at 9:40 a.m. daily, stopping in Portsmouth before arriving in Florida at 1:40 p.m. Return service will leave Florida at 1:20 p.m., stopping in Portsmouth before arriving in Bangor at 5:20 p.m. Passengers will not have to change planes.

A plane will also leave Portsmouth at 8:20 a.m. daily, arriving in Bangor at 9:10 a.m.

Passengers who take the morning flight to Portsmouth from Bangor also may choose to go on to Boston on an express bus operated by C&J Trailways to South Station and Logan Airport, Fink added.

When the Pittsburgh flight begins in May, that plane will depart Bangor at 7:30 a.m. daily, landing in Pittsburgh at 9:30 a.m. Return service will depart Pittsburgh at 6:40 p.m., landing in Bangor at 8:40 p.m.

Pan Am has added several flights since starting up in Portsmouth last fall. On Tuesday, Fink said, the airline signed a contract to provide air service to the Boston Red Sox for the 2000 season.