Porter Airlines proposes Toronto-Newark service
Andrew Compart, Travel Weekly, 2/28/2007
Porter Airlines, a new Canadian carrier that began service in October with $108 million in funding and a familiar figure in its leadership, wants Transportation Dept. approval to expand to the U.S. market beginning April 2 with service between Toronto's City Centre Airport and Newark on 70-seat regional jets.
The airline's chairman is Don Carty, former CEO of American Airlines.
Porter currently flies solely from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal using a fleet of four Bombardier jets. For the Toronto-Newark service, Porter plans seven flights per day during the week and three per day on weekends. But the airline also has bigger plans.
Porter said it plans to focus its initial expansion on serving major cities within a 500 mile radius of Toronto. Porter told the DOT that, as its fleet grows it plans on serving cities such as Boston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Chicago, eventually serving other points in Ontario and Quebec and the Northeast and central portions of the U.S.
Porter uses the phrase "Flying Refined" to brand its service, which includes leather seats with 34 inches of pitch in a two-by-two configuration; free soft drinks, wine and beer in flight; and a lounge for all passengers at City Centre Airport featuring free coffee, tea and soft drinks and computer work stations with wireless Internet access.
The carrier also emphasizes the convenience of service from Toronto's City Centre Airport compared to Toronto's Pearson Airport, with the former just minutes from downtown and accessible via a new ferry, public transit and the airline's free shuttle service. Porter also built its own terminal at City Centre.