The article on seat availability and passenger counts at Bangor International Airport (BDN, Dec. 10) noted that BIA has reversed a growth pattern of several years and began to decline sharply in 2005. What happened in the 2005 timeframe? JetBlue came to Portland and all the other carriers there began to discount their fares as a result. Consequently you can now buy a ticket to almost anywhere for about a third less out of Portland.

My wife and I plan to go to Chicago in January. The best rate from Bangor is $878 each, compared with $496 from Portland. For the savings of $764, we will drive to Portland.

This is a tough problem for Bangor. It has a Catch-22 where it is losing traffic to Portland, but because of declining traffic you can’t even keep the existing carriers, never mind attract a new discount carrier. I hope the management of BIA can come up with an innovative solution because all of us in this area would prefer to use BIA if the rates can be made competitive.

Jim Close

Gouldsboro