The holiday season is almost upon the industry, as if anyone was paying any attention. The numbers appear to be a recordable increase, and the destinations seem appropriate, direct from the State of Maine to the "Redneck Riviera", which nearly everyone calls Florida. Where else could you go for sun and fun...there are no other places on earth but Florida for this! If you check the industry flights, check out the direct flights from Michigan, Iowa and other Midwestern and northern states to Florida. All seem to have a little upsurge in recordable flights and passenger miles.

I guess, Hupp could blog here and let us know what she thinks about this little upswing, and then let's see what her estimation of it all is for a change. Maybe people are a little tired of driving to Portland.

Stupid Article by the BDN - and up tick over August - what is the comparison between the same month this year asthe same month last year - what some people will do to mislead the public - Hupp must want a medal - like she had anything to do with more people flying out of Bangor - She needs to hit ther road with Ed Barrett..Geeze

The uptick was on a year-to-year basis, as is clearly spelled out in the first paragraph, but you would have to read the article to get that.

SantiniSpagoandSpike - If I remember correctly, you have stated in the past that you have never flown into Bangor.

When you put in a change of address to downtown Bangor give us a yell.

“We’re encouraged that passengers are continuing to use the airport and are optimistic that the trend will continue,” airport Director Rebecca Hupp said Wednesday.

What an assinine statement. For those of us frequent flyer business travelers, what's the choice Ms. Hupp? I drive 90 minutes to get to the Bangor Airport, it's not like I'd relish adding another 3 1/2 - 4 hours to that to fly out of Portland. If it wasn't for the drive time, most frequent flyers WOULD drive to Portland to fly simply because of the drastic increase in flight options and the dramatic decrease in price. With the Bangor to Boston flight going away in 3 weeks, the situation in Bangor gets dramatically worse. There are so few flights to/from Bangor now that I most often have to take double or triple connections to get anywhere and let's not forget those wondeful 3-5 hour layovers to connect to Bangor flights.

Ms. Hupp, while you tout the fact that the airport has had increases for 6 straight months - what does that mean when at that very same time we've lost almost half of our scheduled flights. And let's not forget that most of your quoted increases come from Allegiant Air, a twice a week "tourist" airline that isn't any help at all to the business traveler. And if you want to look at statistics, what is the current total number of passengers going in/out fo Bangor vs. 3 ,5, 10 years ago? Stop playing with the statistics and get off your butt to bring daily scheduled flights into Bangor. Or better yet, resign and make room for someone who can !!!

And thanks BDN for rubbing salt in the wounds by using a file photo that depicts the Bangor to Atlanta direct flights we used to have that were so convenient for many business travelers. Yup, we lost those too didn't we Ms. Hupp?

Anybody check the figures?

pjramsay...yes, I never flew INTO Bangor at BIA while on vacation! On vacation...pj! I never flew INTO Bangor while coming back from any overseas point, either, especially from ANY European point. Why...is Bangor supposed to be some critical hub to US Immigration and an endless destination point for international and national carriers? With the current weather and some other not-so-new characteristics of aviation technology at BIA and the small airport facilities there, I can understand why there are so many flyovers.

Even the time I was in the military and owned a home in Bangor, never did I have any opportunity to fly INTO Bangor...but I did fly OUT of Bangor, pj. Stupid!

The increase in passengers is very good news for the beleaguered airport. It's pretty easy to grow when you've hit rock bottom. Nonetheless, as a travel agent I'm interested in seeing the airport regain some of the massive amounts of service they've lost during the years of mismanagement and blown opportunities. Such events are the failed leadership of Ms. Hupp and the Glorious Reign of Terror she's imposed on the once mighty BRA (Bangor Regional Airport) and it's weary employees. According to the rank and file that work there this woman brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "the beatings will continue until the morale improves!". Growth at the airport, regardless of the fact that it is wholly disengenous, is a feather in her cap, as is retaining one of the fleeing charter carriers that was headed out of state. Rumour has it that despite repeated public pronoucements that she won't give anything "free" to the charter carriers she nonetheless is alleged to have instituted a payback program refunding and rewarding the charters for staying at Bangor. Perhaps an enterprising reporter at the BDN can check to see it that is the case?

SantiniSpagoandSpike - getting a little testy out there in Malibu? So sad. You might want to move here to relax.

Basing growth on the back of one company can turn Bangor into a one plane town. Turning back the clock or relishing lights of the past is a waste of time. We cannot go back.

With the competition to the south, Bangor will continue to lose seats. By adding charter seats to Florida the numbers will look good, but the reality is - not everyone wants to go to Florida.

Come January, Allegiant will offer nearly 600 seats per week (4 flights) to Florida. Delta (2 flights per day to NYC), Northwest (2 flights per day to Detroit) and US Air (3 flights per day to Philly) will offer 350 per day. Is this enough - probably. But with a numbers of cars heading to Portland for cheaper fares and plentiful schedules, Bangor will probably survive this new, limited winter schedule.

Spring and Summer may be a different story. If Portland (and points south) and Allegiant bleed off enough passengers from the legacy carriers, what incentive do they have to stay in Bangor? With the economy still slow and airlines not buying new aircraft, how will the legacy carriers grow their market share? By taking aircraft from under performing cities - like Bangor.

Load factors, passenger counts and comparison studies are statistics that can be molded and manipulated at will. But look out the window. If the passengers decide that a two hour drive is worth the $200 per person savings, the load factors fall.

Bangor is not flying on empty, but the red light is flashing. Come January we will be driving on fumes. Eventually, we may find the only station open sells just one brand - Florida.

It's great that the airport has more passengers. But the fact is, the numbers of passengers may have gone up. But SERVICE has gone down. And that will only make passenger numbers go DOWN later on. With the only flight choices now down to PHL and DTW with a couple turbo props to LGA. BGR is going to lose to Portland! The Aligent seats added are not a stat that helps the normal traveler that wants to go somewhere besides Orlando or Tampa! What's going to happen when the major carriers pull out but Alligent has 6 MD80 flights a week to FL. She going to say passerenger numbers are holding steady???

The airport is slowly getting deeper and deeper into a hole. At some point we are going to hit the point of no return. I am sure many of you know "lies, damned lies, and statistics". No matter what the numbers say. The service is going down at BGR. Down to 2 major carriers. Why does any administrator at the airport have a job still??? Yes the economy and airline industry is in turmoil, but the fact is there are enough people to fly from BGR to support more flights with other carriers. But for some reason they pull out anyway. WHY???

I fly over 75,000 miles a year out of BGR. And its getting harder for me to keep using BGR. Eventually my company is going to force me to use Portland.

Actual numbers should have been included in this story. Percentages alone do not give a clear picture of the situation, and might even imply one that's rosier or gloomier than reality. For example, an increase from 1000 to 2000 is a 100% increase. An increase from 10,000 to 20,000 is a 100% increase. An increase from 5 to 10 is a 100% increase. A 12% increase from 1000 is 1120. A 12% increase from 10,000 is 11,200. A 12% increase from 5 is 5.6. The point is, without actual numbers, the report lacks meaning. Numbers first, then statistical analysis, to assist the reader in understanding perspective. Modern journalistic practices should require this information from bureaucrats, who might be able to use statistics to their advantage otherwise - or not write the story at all. In other words, they should not allow themselves to be (consciously) manipulated.