Airlines are a tough business to run, most new entrants to the market are low-cost carriers battling for legroom in the market against decades-old established players. Porter, founded in 2006, has managed to find a full-service niche serving business travellers who care more about convenience than price out of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport. It initially connected the island airport to Montreal and Ottawa before expanding its network across eastern Canada and the U.S. Northeast.
Porter formerly operated solely with a fleet of propeller-driven Q400 Dash-8 aircraft that was manufactured just north of Toronto. It served Blazac’s coffee brewed in Ontario that tasted like singed beans, delicious Hardbite crisps from British Columbia, watery Jackson-Triggs wine from Ontario, and switched from Scottish Walkers to Cookie It Up shortbread made in Canada. That “made in Canada” label changed in February 2023 when it started operated Brazilian-made Embraer jets for the first time out of Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
As an Avid Traveler, Porter’s name for its frequent fliers, I got an email offering a seat on their first commercial jet flight to land in Pearson. At the rate of $0.50 each way, I signed up immediately. The new planes expanded the airline’s network to western Canada with plans to extend its network south to Mexico and the Caribbean. Porter offered each passenger on any of its maiden voyages a $150 voucher. It made good on its promise four weeks later when I arrived at Ottawa airport.
Staff set up a snacks counter with free shortbread and coffee for passengers waiting for the flight, just like it did before 2018. When I fly in their half-empty turboprops, it didn’t really matter who boards first when there are only 40 passengers. With larger aircraft sporting over 30 rows and a full contingent of passengers, it meant more to have status with Porter.
On board, the food and snacks experience remained the same unless you’re on a flight longer than 2.5 hours, where you can opt to pay more for premium meal service. All the seats are still economy, but much wider. I joked with the stranger next to me that our shoulders no longer touched. Each seat has a power outlet, adjustable headrest, and a few degrees of recline. Small comforts for short commuter flights could make a big difference on trans-Canada routes to Vancouver. Wireless internet is free for all passengers, making Porter the first Canadian airline to offer this much-needed amenity on an egalitarian basis to its travellers.
There were a few teething problems with service on the new aircraft. The drinks didn’t come in Porter’s iconic Chef & Sommelier glassware, passengers weren’t offered napkins, and the drinks cart ran out of coffee halfway through the morning flight. The in-flight entertainment worked on both my phone and laptop, but the countdown timer that was supposed to show the amount of time left on the flight counted down from 24 hours instead of whatever the scheduled flight time was. I hope the airline figures out a solution to those issues soon.
It was a short hop to Toronto, but the flight wasn’t any faster compared to arriving at Billy Bishop. Taxiing to the gate to a lot longer and the UP Express train downtown takes about an hour because the train only comes every 30 minutes. Getting from the bridge to my office in Toronto only takes about a half hour from the smaller airport. The only benefit I can see with using Pearson is the ability to connect to other destinations or enjoy the lounge on my way back.
The return flight was eventful. It was delayed once by a crew change and a second time when some seat belts fell off and a seat back broke. At Billy Bishop, we would simply have been put on the next flight. But at Pearson, we had to wait for the maintenance crew to fix the seats. They upgraded all status passengers to Porter Reserve service up front with extra legroom and premium and larger snacks for the inconvenience. It’s not much for such a short flight, but it gave me a feel of what a comfortable long-haul journey in economy class could be.
I’ve been on plenty of trips where I shared the same flights there and back with the same stranger, but this was the first time I sat next to the same guy both ways on the same day. By the end of the flight, the cabin crew accidentally played the safety demonstration audio three times—a case of better safe than sorry.
