[URBAN NOTE] Two links on Porter Airlines' mooted expansion

[rfmcdonald]

The news, announced yesterday, that local airline Porter wants to expand its service by operating a fleet of Bombardier-built jets connecting its base on the Toronto Island Airport to a host of North American cities has been spun in two ways. The CBC article "Porter aims to become Canada's 3rd national airline"

Porter Airlines confirmed today it plans to buy up to 30 CS100 jets from Montreal-based Bombardier, which would expand the regional carrier's reach from coast to coast, and take direct aim at Air Canada and WestJet.

"We believe it is time to spread our wings," president and CEO Bob Deluce said at a news conference at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, where Porter is based. "And so I present to you our vision for the future of Porter Airlines — a vision with service to destinations across North America, from Calgary and Vancouver, to Los Angeles, Miami and Orlando."

The move pushes Porter into direct competition with Air Canada and WestJet as a national carrier, while setting up a potential political standoff over expansion of the island airport in downtown Toronto.

[. . .]

The total purchase could reach $2.29 billion US if all the options and purchase rights are exercised.

Delivery of the first jet, which has seating for 107 passengers, is expected in 2016.

The conditional purchase agreement signed on Tuesday is a coup for Bombardier, and ushers in a change in Canadian aviation. That's because the CSeries jets can fly 5,400 km without refuelling, much farther than the current fleet of Q400 turboprop planes that Porter flies to connect 19 cities across Eastern Canada and the U.S.

The other concern, caught by Yahoo News' Matthew Coutts, is a fear for the environmental and other effects of the move, which would require a physical expansion of the airport's landing strip.

The airline currently runs some 26 turbo-propeller airplanes out of Toronto’s island airport. Operating out of the downtown core gives it an advantage over industry big shots forced to fly out of the suburban Pearson International Airport, which can be a burden to get to.

That advantage has historically come with some limitations, however, including a 30-year-old agreement that limits the size of the island operation and its fleet due, to its proximity to downtown, the waterfront and an activist-heavy community of island dwellers.

That community has been in a near-constant state of war against Porter ever since it opened up shop in 2006, accusing the airline of environmental pollution, noise pollution and aesthetic pollution. So convincing them to accept jets, instead of propeller crafts, and a 168-meter expansion to each end of the runway could prove difficult.

Community AIR, a grassroots group that opposes the island airport on environmental grounds, has long argued that air and noise pollution is a massive problem. The group battled expansion in 2010 and told the Toronto Star that they expect even more support in opposing the latest announcement.

Porter operates under a 30-year-old tripartite agreement between the city, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority – the group responsible for appropriately expanding the city's port lands. As such, the company will need approval from those three organizations before proceeding with its expansion plans.