Porter Airlines - History

History

Porter Airlines' launch was controversial. In 2002, the 'Toronto City Centre Airport', or 'Island Airport', operated by the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) was losing $1 million per year. Only Air Canada flew flights from the airport as part of its "Jazz" service, operating daily flights to Ottawa after the closure of the regional airline City Express in 1991.

In October 2002, the TPA announced a $35 million plan of improvements to the airport to support expanding its usage. The TPA planned to build a $15 million bridge and a $20 million airport terminal. A new regional airline would be launched at the airport, to be run by Porter's CEO Deluce. Since its opening, the airport, located on Toronto Island, has been accessible by passenger ferry only and the ferry-only access was seen as an obstacle to expansion. In a deal with the City of Toronto, the TPA's plans were approved by Toronto City Council in November 2002.

The TPA's plans were opposed by neighbouring residents and community associations who together formed the Community Air special interest group to fight the expansion. The expansion became a primary issue in the 2003 Toronto municipal election. Mayoral candidates Barbara Hall and John Tory supported the bridge and David Miller opposed it. Miller and a slate of like-minded candidates for council ran on a common platform, the centrepiece of which was to stop the bridge. After Miller was elected Mayor in November 2003, the new council voted to cancel the previous Council's decision, stopping the bridge project.

After the bridge was cancelled, Robert Deluce launched a $505 million lawsuit against the City of Toronto and later expanded it to the Canadian federal government. After receiving an unspecified amount of compensation from the TPA to settle the suit, his company bought the airport building that Jazz was using at the airport and cancelled Jazz's lease on January 31, 2006. Two days later, on February 2, 2006, he announced that Porter Airlines, a regional airline operating locally built Bombardier turboprops would begin service in 2006, operating from the airport, initially on a Toronto-Ottawa route. In a show of political support, the Porter press conference was staged at the Bombardier plant in suburban Toronto, where the airplanes are built, with support from Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove, who said it would create new employment opportunities in the region. On the same day the TPA announced plans to improve ferry service to serve the new airline, buying a $4.5 million, 150-passenger ferry.

Immediately, political opponents of the TPA, including Miller, City Council members, local community associations and local Members of Parliament Olivia Chow and Jack Layton expressed concern that the operation of a major airline from the island will cause increased noise and air pollution in the downtown core.

Concerns raised include safety. The airport's main runway is 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long, 600 feet (180 m) shorter than Bombardier's specifications for a fully loaded Q400. Porter solved this problem by fitting the planes for 70 passengers, less than the maximum load of 78 passengers. There are several cautions to pilots flying into the airport, including boat masts, a nearby wind turbine, and no-fly areas. The flight path into the airport requires the airplanes to fly an approach offset from the runway centre-line to avoid nearby hazards such as tall chimneys and buildings.

Jazz filed a $11.5 million law-suit against the TPA and later, Porter, in the Ontario Superior Court in February 2006, alleging that the TPA signed contracts forcing Jazz out of the airport, causing a monopoly at the airport, and were anti-competitive. Jazz later filed a suit in Federal Court. On October 20, 2009, Jazz formally dropped its suit in Ontario Court, but plans to continue its law-suit against Porter and the TPA in Federal Court. According to the announcement, Jazz dropped the matter in provincial court as the TPA is a federal agency, and the Airport is a federal facility. Damages in the federal case are not specified. Porter filed a counter-claim to Jazz' lawsuit citing damages of $850 million, based on Jazz agreement with Air Canada, and Porter has not dropped its counter-claim.

The airline's maiden flight took place on October 23, 2006 to Ottawa. When flights began, airline passengers were at first blocked by protesters at the ferry dock, urging a boycott of the service. Although on-site protests eventually stopped, Community Air continues to monitor Porter's operations along with those of the TPA. The TPA confirmed at its annual meeting of September 12, 2008, that Porter was fined for breaking noise curfews in its operations following complaints from local residents. The TPA commissioned a study to reduce noise from Porter's takeoffs and landings.

The TPA and Porter remain partners in the expansion of the airport. In January 2009, the TPA announced plans to purchase a new, larger passenger ferry to support Porter's expansion plans. The ferry is to be financed out of an improvement fee to be charged to passengers. The ferry had been proposed by Porter's Deluce to the TPA's Board of Directors over the period of March – June 2008. The decision to approve the $5 million ferry precipitated a conflict-of-interest investigation of TPA director Colin Watson, who is a self-described friend of Deluce's, and who voted in a 5–4 decision to approve the ferry. Watson was cleared of the charge by the federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson in June 2009.

In April 2009, Porter announced that it would build a $45 million terminal at the island airport, with Canadian Customs, restaurants, car rental kiosks, expanded lounge space and office space totalling 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2). The terminal cost $50 million and its first phase opened on March 7, 2010. It will be completed in 2011 and Porter hopes to add a US Customs section.

At the September 2009 annual meeting of the TPA, it was disclosed that Porter has broken its 11 p.m. curfew for landing at the airport three times in 2009, each time incurring a $5,000 fine. On one occasion, a Porter plane landed at the airport after-hours even after being advised by controllers to land at Pearson. According to Porter Airlines CEO Robert Deluce, "You know hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of flights come and go on a daily basis, so there are very, very few occasions where it happens. And there are also particular circumstances — and the circumstances are rare — to operate outside these normal times." According to the TPA, they are powerless to stop Porter other than imposing fines, and that planes landing at the airport when no controllers are present is not a safety risk. TPA director Mark McQueen has requested that the NAV Canada personnel stay on-site until the last flight has landed, but NAV Canada has refused to do so.

On January 10, 2013, 22 Porter ground crew members went on strike in Toronto. This is the airline's first labour dispute since it began business. In April 2013, Porter filed a libel lawsuit against the Canadian Office and Professional Employees union representing the 22 striking workers. Porter is seeking $4 million in damages for alleged defamatory statements made by the union using its Twitter account.

In April 2013, Porter announced expansion plans to serve new destinations in Western Canada, California and Florida. To support the expansion, Porter reached a provisional agreement to purchase 12 107-seat Bombardier CS100 jets, with a future option to purchase up to 18 more. Porter's plans require regulatory and facility changes to its Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport hub. Porter has asked for modifications to the operating agreement of the airport to allow jets and extensions to the runway to support the new aircraft. Changes to the operating agreement require the agreement of the TPA, the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada. TPA stated that it had no position on the expansion and would await a decision from Toronto City Council. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has indicated his support for the proposal while some councillors expressed their opposition, and some urged further study.