I was up in the Pacific Northwest this past weekend, and on my way home yesterday, I had a chance to walk around the Portland Airport. Since this place has been rated the best airport in the US by many, I thought I’d walk around to see what was so great. Sure there were short security lines and all that, but I was looking for things that really made the airport stand out. Here’s what I thought were the top 5 features.

5) Green-tastic

You’d think a place that gets far more rain in a year than should be legal wouldn’t care about water conservation so much, but they do. They’ve even installed the dual-flush handle on their toilets. Pull up for #1 (and less water) and push down for #2 (with more water). I have to wonder how many people pay attention to which way they flush, but hey, it’s a nice effort nonetheless.

4) Pull Up a Seat

It’s bad enough when you have to take your shoes off at security, but it’s the ultimate in frustration when you can’t find a place to sit down to put them back on. I’m not sure why the TSA has decided to be so friendly here at PDX, but it’s very nice to see that there are big benches just past security where you can sit and recompose yourself. Why can’t other airports do this? Maybe it’s a space issue, or maybe there’s just someone more compassionate running the show in this town.

3) Be Entertained

As I passed security, I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn’t in a Nordstrom store. Yesterday, William Fischer was tickling the ivories on this piano, and I found out that it was just part of an entertainment series that the airport puts on regularly. Nothing like live music to soothe the harried traveler. Then again, I wasn’t so harried yesterday but you get my point.

2) Get Online Free

This is becoming more and more popular around the country, but I still don’t see it nearly enough. Go to PDX and you’ll have free wi-fi throughout the airport. In addition, they have business centers with workstations to get things done. I think the other feature I find most useful here is the place to charge your cell phone/ipod. Sometimes finding a plug in the airport can be such a pain.

1) Public Transit to the MAX

There’s nothing I love more about an airport than good public transit access, and this has to be one of the best. The MAX light rail comes right in to the airport. How close? This picture was taken from behind security on one of the concourses. So yeah, it’s close, and it’s easy. You can get just about anywhere in the Portland area from here. Coming from LA, where our airports have some of the worst public transit connectivity around, this makes me very jealous.

Sometimes, it pays to have good timing. A fellow airline dork came across a very interesting message on the JetBlue website. Unless there’s some sort of technical glitch, it appears that JetBlue will be starting up a Portland (Oregon) focus city on October 9. Flights will begin that day to Long Beach, Austin, Chicago/O’Hare, and Las Vegas. Don’t believe me? Head to jetblue.com or just take a look at this screen shot.

I tend to think that the IT team screwed up and put this up there too early. My guess is that we’ll see an announcement as soon as tomorrow, but really who knows? Those other flights on there have already been announced. Richmond to Orlando came out yesterday, White Plains to Tampa came out today, and so did Washington/Dulles to three new sun destinations.

So, I’d imagine we’ll see the announcement that the airline is going to bump up service in the Rose City come out very soon. This is an interesting move, and Alaska won’t be happy. Last time someone tried this, I believe I was able to fly a Delta MD-11 up to Portland from LAX. Ok, so that was more about Delta creating a Pacific gateway, but this is still not exactly a place full of successful airline moves.

One thing I’m curious about is the Long Beach flights. Where did that slot (or slots) come from? My first guess is San Jose, because there have been some low fares in there lately. Something tells me business hasn’t been so great. But maybe it will come out of the long haul world instead. Time will tell.

UPDATE 7/16 @ 814a: I’ve received word that only Portland to Long Beach will be starting. The press release will be going out soon. That means the others are connecting opportunities. Two daily flights - the first starts October 9 and the second on November 2.

Southbound
PDX 730a LGB 945a (begins 10/10)
PDX 210p LGB 425 p (begins 11/2)

Northbound
LGB 1110a PDX 135p (begins 11/2)
LGB 505p PDX 730p (begins 10/9)

Also, I’m told that slots will come as a result of the usual “pulldowns from Long Beach in the off-season (mostly transcons).”