The original air service was established in the late-1940s by Arthur Harjula with a single J3 cub. It was later named Stonington Flying Service when purchased by Herb Jones. When Herb's son, Charlie, took the business over he renamed it Penobscot Air. In the early-1990s, Clint and Hannah Demmons bought the air service, retaining its name. In 1999, they sold to the Telford Group. In 2003, the Telford Group established the air service as Maine Atlantic Aviation. In 2004, the division was purchased by another individual, who retained the name Maine Atlantic Aviation.
In mid-December of 2004, the owner of Maine Atlantic decided abruptly to stop all service to the islands, and Kevin Waters decided to establish Penobscot Island Air. Service began with Kevin flying a single leased plane to the islands of Penobscot Bay.
It was a priority for Kevin to maintain the way of life for the people of the islands, whom he had grown to know very well while flying to the islands for the previous 11 years. To maintain flight service, it was a ncecessity to secure contracts to the islands, which he did. PIA holds
the contracts for the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Express, Federal Express Ground, United Parcel Service,
U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
We're located at Knox County Regional Airport (RKD). Our office is currently situated near the County Terminal at the end of Terminal Lane, as indicated on the adjacent map. If you are driving to the airport via Rockland (directions), please note the left turn off Route 73 followed by a right turn onto Ash Point Road.
Do you need transportation in the Rockland area? If you do, we recommend Joe's Taxi, 207-975-3560, or Schooner Bay Limo & Taxi, 207-594-5000. We may also have available a courtesy van.
On Matinicus, we recommend contacting Ann's Mermaid Taxi, 207-366-3161.
The current parking information and rates can be obtained
here.
We may also be able to provide courtesy van service to the terminal parking areas or valet service so that you may have your car at the airplane for both arrival and departure.
Each passenger is allowed 75 lbs. of baggage/freight without an extra charge. Additional luggage or items above 75 lbs. are charged at a rate of 30 cents per pound. Packing large grocery orders in banana boxes (or equivalent) is preferred for air travel. Unaccompanied grocery orders are charged a fee of $8 per banana box. Normally, there is no charge for additional inbound baggage/freight when passenger seating or cargo space is available to use for these items. Please
contact Penobscot Island Air for further details.
Normal baggage or freight (75 lbs. or less per passenger) Please arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to takeoff.
Additional Baggage or Freight (over 75 lbs. per passenger) Please arrive no later than 30 minutes prior to takeoff.
Without prior notification and/or coordination with Penobscot Island Air, passengers who arrive later than required check-in times may lose their seats to stand-by passengers.
Our goal is to provide you the most convenient means of travel to your destination.
Contacting us in the event of a delay or change in plans will help us continue to provide prompt service to you as well as others.
Our primary concern is safe flight operation. Flights may be delayed or cancelled if required by weather or other conditions that pose a risk to the safety of passengers and crew. Please leave your phone number when booking flights in advance so that we may contact you regarding such delays.
Current weather conditions and forecasts for the Rockland area are here.
We appreciate the earliest notification possible if you must cancel or reschedule your flight. In that way, we can continue to offer all our customers timely and convenient travel with Penobscot Island Air!
