Taking Flight at Port City Air

It’s 5 a.m. when the sun rises over Rye Beach and edges up an airstrip more than 11,000 feet long at Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. First up at the front desk for Port City Air’s Bridget DuBois and Kaitlin Scott is a radio call to get 20,000 gallons of jet fuel for a U.S. Air Force KC-46, a massive refueler preparing for its morning mission. 

Stephanie Pratt, Port City Air’s director of sales and marketing, poses with a U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VMFA-112).

Chelsea Smith, a 21-year-old member of the line crew, pumps the order from a 10,000-gallon fuel truck. Kristin O’Keefe, from the airport’s Great Circle Catering company, makes breakfast sandwiches for pilots and crew. Just after sunrise, Sean O’Connor, a nearby resident, maneuvers his 1968 Cessna 177 out of his hangar for an early outing down the coast. 

Another day unfolds at Port City Air, a family-owned business near the runway between offramps Papa and Quebec that has welcomed visitors to New Hampshire for more than 30 years.

“People think we’re an airport, but we’re actually an FBO, a fixed base operator,” says Jamie McCarthy, director of operations.

The “fixed base” is a concept from before World War I, in the days of crop dusters, barnstormers and flying circuses. After the war, fixed-base operators like Port City became the all-purpose shop for a growing aviation industry. Today, the company is a full-service stopover offering fueling, customs, catering, maintenance, de-icing, hangar rental and overnight parking.

“We literally started with a mechanic and a plane,” McCarthy says. “It was started by Bob Jesurum, and later, his brother Dick came aboard. They called the company Port City Aircraft Repair, and it was just a small one-stop place for airplane repairs.”

An Airbus A400 of the Royal Air Force undergoes engine maintenance.

Jesurum is still part of the family business, which has grown into a staff of more than 200 who serve single-engine pilots, domestic and international charters, commercial airliners Allegiant and Breeze Airways and military flights from around the globe. 

Whether a pilot arrives in an electric helicopter or a flying Beluga whale (an Airbus Super Transporter), Port City’s coordinated teams — customer service, line crew, charter operations, catering and military support — engage in a daily whirlwind of activities involving the thrilling and downright unexpected. Lobster delivery? Check. Free pizza for all military flights, U.S. and international? Check. Dog sitting? In special cases. 

“We take care of everyone like they’re family,” says Stephanie Pratt, Port City’s director of sales and marketing. “It doesn’t matter if you fly a Cessna two-seater or a giant cargo plane.” 

Avionics Manager Bryan Frobese and Avionics Technician Ryan Voiselle plan their day in the maintenance hangar.

The 12-year veteran at Port City has grown into her executive role, handling everything from fueling, locating lost luggage, and de-icing planes big enough to carry helicopters and mini vans. Her enthusiasm for the work has not faded. 

“Because we’re on the coast, we’re a great jumping off spot for going overseas,” Pratt says. 

Most people think of Boston when they’re in New England, but at Pease, there’s a small-town feel with big-time expertise that’s a unique gateway for travelers. That list includes political candidates, government officials, sports stars and global phenoms. 

“We have on-site customs, which is a big-time saver for incoming international flights,” Pratt says. “Privacy and confidentiality are key, but we give the same professional care to everyone who lands on our ramp.” 

The sheer volume of flights and the nature of travelers’ needs requires the staff to be nimble, ready to change gears at a moment’s notice. “Sometimes we don’t know when aircraft are coming in,” Pratt says. “We get a call from a pilot asking to divert because of bad weather or an emergency and we adjust.”

Jamie McCarthy serves as Port City Air’s director of fixed based operations.

In summer, when air travel peaks, that can mean five cargo planes outbound to Poland, six charter flights carrying CEOs or officials from Washington, D.C., families jetting to Nova Scotia to escape the heat, or a LifeFlight helicopter transporting patients from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. 

In emergencies, it’s all-hands-on-deck. Port City is open 24/7 with all units on call, whether arranging Customs or providing lightning-fast fuel turnarounds. And most of the work is done on radios using aviation callouts: ALPHA. BRAVO. CHARLIE. 

As a private company, Port City isn’t open to the public to watch plane landings and its rapid-fire response teams. But stand in the airport viewing lot off Grafton Road and you’ll marvel at the kinds of planes that land daily on the Seacoast. 

Ground Support Equipment Technician Brian Tobey.

“We serve members of the military worldwide, whether from the United States, the Royal Air Force, Italy, Sweden, Spain, or Hungary,” says Jamie McCarthy. With its long runway, Pease can handle the truly mammoth. That includes the biggest plane in the world, a Ukranian-based Antonov cargo plane that on its approach looks like a jumbo manatee inching its way down from the clouds. 

“It puts me in awe every time I see it,” says Michael Khan, charter operations manager. “It amazes me that a plane that big is able to take off and land.” 

 Long runways and de-icing capability aren’t the top reasons military crews choose Pease and Port City. “When a crew books a flight through Pease for a quick fuel or tech stop, or if they’re staying here for a week on missions, they know they’re in good hands. We take care of logistics,” McCarthy says.

Kristin O’Keefe, Darren Scott, Katie Tessier and Gianna Wheeler of Great Circle Catering prepare an event catering order.

They get down-home New Hampshire hospitality, a cozy hotel room and quaint towns in which to relax. The Port City welcome includes a free locally-sourced pizza and signature gifts: baseball caps with embroidered plane insignias, pins, bottle openers, pen knives and stuffed toy lobsters for kids. It’s a warmth that goes both ways. The Port City lobby walls are covered with framed displays of military shoulder patches, hallmarks from each unit given by crew when they have received the great care. 

Home-cooked food is a cornerstone of the Port City experience. The company has expanded to include Great Circle Catering, an on-site facility. It’s key to the Port City “family” vision, and like most things at the company, it’s not a job for the weary. 

Port City Air’s Line Service team member Ryan Franke prepares a fuel truck for service.

“In a recent 72-hour period, Great Circle cranked out over 7,000 meals, and our staff served them on five international cargo flights,” says McCarthy. Upon request, staff also will pick up and pack live lobsters to go.

Port City operates 24/7, rain or shine, and shuts down for snow only until the airport authority clears the runways. “We’ve honestly only closed one time since I’ve been here,” Pratt says. 

Challenges become lessons learned. When a giant C-5 cargo plane broke down on the runway, it was impossible to move the plane to the ramp because they didn’t have a towbar for that unforeseen mishap. “We now have a towbar for every kind of plane that lands here,” Pratt says. 

Weather and darkness make for daunting tasks like de-icing, where the line operator sits in a glass box dangling over the passenger-filled plane and sprays liquid on every part of the body and wings. And after long flights over the Atlantic, pilots rely on the charter team to guide them to a parking spot, a somewhat unnerving procedure called a “follow-me.”

Michael Roberts and William Todd of CHI (Construction Helicopters Inc.), which is the flight school based on the field.

According to Kahn, charter staff wait in a van at the edge of the ramp and inch forward, guiding a large-body plane, always careful to keep the right distance from the airplane’s nose so the pilot can see where to go. Think turtle leading dinosaur. 

“After a long flight and when it’s dark, the follow-me is one less task. It helps the pilot and the tower see where a plane is parked,” Kahn says. With so many huge planes parked in a finite space, the charter staff is thinking about wingspan and gives each giant enough room with only a sneeze to spare. 

“My first ‘follow-me’ was the Antonov,” Kahn says. “It was crazy. You’re driving and you can only see the wheels because the plane is so far up, and you have to keep the right distance, so they can see you.
It’s exhilarating.” 

PCA Line Services team member Austin Bolduc prepares to fuel a helicopter.

Last July, Port City welcomed F-18 fighter jets and C-130 cargo planes for Atlantic Alliance 2025, a 10-day annual military training exercise. This year, the training included 200 U.S. Marines, forces from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in practice land, air and sea missions to protect the Eastern Seaboard. 

“Every employee gave their all working 12-hour shifts, sometimes on a 100-degree ramp. It required a lot of teamwork and morale was high,” Pratt says. “We had foosball, cornhole and Connect Four in one of the hangars. The leadership was from Massachusetts and happy to be back in New England. They put on a lobster bake for everyone after the last mission.”

For McCarthy, such widespread operations are never

routine but come as no surprise. He rolls his eyes when he recounts the tale of a multinational war game in 2024 that required Port City Air to assist with moving members of the Italian Air Force to Alaska, a feat McCarthy describes as a “major undertaking.”

The Italians arrived in waves with six Eurofighters, six F-35 fighter jets, three refueling tankers and two C-130 cargo support aircraft. 

“We all kind of looked at each other like, ‘That’s 17 airplanes. What are we going to do with 17 airplanes?’” McCarthy recalls. “In 40 minutes, we put all those aircraft on the ground, had everybody unloaded and all ready to go to their hotels.”

Photo By Paul Novorolsky

Thunder Over New Hampshire- Live Free and Fly!

The rumblings of your car on I-95 or the windows of your near-Portsmouth house take on a special type of meaningful joy when the Blue Angels come to town. After being away for nearly a decade, the U.S. Navy jet team is making its return for Thunder Over New Hampshire happening at Pease Air National Guard Base Sept. 6 and 7. Other performers for this popular air show include UH-60 Blackhawks, U.S. Para-Commandos, U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II teams and more. General admission for the show is free — it’s the perfect weekend packed with heart-pounding fun and activities for the whole family. For more information, visit thunderovernewhampshire.com.