Porter aims to become Canada's 3rd national airline

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I can't see them being much of a threat to the competition with their proposed new routes. You won't even be able to fly Porter between western cities. Who the hedouble hockey sticks would fly from western Canada to Toronto to go to LA or Vegas?

Flying in western Canada is not lucrative. You already have Westjet and Air Canada firmly established. Porter has always been about servicing people in the GTA and those looking for an alternative when flying to Toronto, and they are VERY good at what they do. I hope they succeed in the future plans but I fear the lefty nutjobs on Toronto city council might throw a tantrum in order to block this.

Opposing this expansion is not a "Lefty Nutjob" issue Q-Ball.

For the Record:

1) I love flying Porter
2) I love the Bombardier C-Series
3) I love the City Centre Airport
BUT --- The three togeteher is a stupid, reckless idea that is just plain BAD.

Have you been to the island airport? The entrance is at the intersection of two small, narrow residential streets. There is a school on one corner, a park on the other, and a condo building on the third. There is only one small private parking lot for air travellers, next to another condo. That corner already is a cluster-fuck anytime there is an event at Exhibition Place, or congestion on Gardener/Lakeshore or when a commuter flight comes in. And don't forget this idiot mayor we have also wants to put in a 24-hour gambling and shopping megaplex in the same area. Where the hell are all the people and cars going to fit???

Everything has a role and a place, and the role for the island airport, or any city-centre airport, is to be a downtown destination for puddle-jumper type commuter flights, primarily used by people who need/want to travel directly from downtown core. It's not meant to be a hub for people coming from afar who are willing to fly from anywhere that offers the best price.

There is no way the airport or the surrounding area can handle the 24-7 influx of vacationers and travellers coming from all over southern Ontario for their sun-n-fun vacation flights simply because they got a deal. That's what Pearson Airport is for.

I support Porter getting jets and expanding, but those flights should come and go from Pearson.

And that's just the issue with traffic and congestion, the noise from the planes and disruption for the construction will destroy the waterfront too.

Toronto is just the base they will feed into. Porter is great and I use them all the time but they are limited in range. This will be more about moving eastern based traffic from north to south and east to west. Having to go through Pearson will kill them. Also the majority of the air traffic passengers will never leave the terminal since they are just connecting. GTA traffic would increase only slightly since the locals would only use them if cost vs convenience is much better.
Until they have some sort of western base, it will only be suitable for central and eastern cities.

I'm all for increased competition, as it would probably lead to lower airfares. I find it ridiculous that it is cheaper to fly to LA or NYC than it is to fly to Toronto or Montreal.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for Porter, but I don't think Canada is a big enough market for three major carriers. Good luck!

Airport Fees and Taxes.

Airport Fees and Taxes.

No, even straight airfares are higher. When I was planning my vacation this winter, the flight from NYC back to Edmonton was cheaper (before fees/taxes were added) than my flight to Toronto was.

In this instance, both AC and WestJet wanted more for a flight to Toronto than they did to NYC and that was with a flight from NYC in peak season, while the Toronto flight was in shoulder season.

These flights were also more expensive than my flights at Christmas between Edmonton-LA last year (again before fees/taxes were included).

I understand that demand affects prices and that some ridiculously low fares to London or Cancun are based on charters and not regular airfares, but sometimes I find it crazy that it is cheaper to fly to London or Tokyo than it is to Toronto.

Fuel is also much cheaper in the US and is probably the largest expense in relation to flight costs. Put it all together and add on the profit margin and it balloons. Landing fees on average are also cheaper in the US. Those are built in costs to the ticket price. Greed and a good old fashion screwing are the other components.

It is twice as expensive to fly from Castlegar (serviced by Air Canada) to NYC than it is to fly from Spokane (Washington) to NYC. And it takes twice as much time and a lay-over for the night in either Vancouver or Toronto.

An hours return flight (Castlegar-Vancouver) for next week: $350.

My wife recently took a Porter flight from Myrtle Beach to Toronto,she was not looking forward to making a connecting flight at Toronto Pierson Int. She was surprised when the plane landed out on one of the Toronto islands,she was equally relieved that the plane wasnt going to crash in the water as she was not expecting the plane to come in so low over water thinking she was going to land at the big airport., it was a definite wtf moment for her..

While you have some very valid concerns, the cause is being championed by many lefty nutjobs which does impact the credibility.

Yeah, too bad they didn't build a bridge to allow traffic to travel to and park on the island. Oh wait a minute...



The casino will be on the CNE grounds, which is about 1.5 Km away (who's going to park at the foot of Bathurst to go to the CNE?). Plus the mayor doesn't have the ability to say whether one is going in or not. He has one vote. Council votes to allow it or not. Nice try though.



Who said anything about 24/7 operations? Plus even if for some reason there were night flight at Billy Bishop you can restrict them to takeoffs towards the lake or landings from the lake.

Wind direction and speed dictate what runways are used.

I can't see them challenging WestJet with that ridiculous route expansion.

One direction travel to Toronto in a 110 seater..lol forgetaboudit. I can hear the WestJet execs laughing in the head office.

Too bad as even WestJet is no deal any more. It's rare that Westjet ever beats US Airways pricing on US destinations. Round trip flights to Phoenix are usually 50 to 100 bucks cheaper. No surprise the US AW jets are always full no matter what time of day you fly.