National Post (National Edition)
Porter still hopes to fly jets from Toronto island
TORONTO • Porter Airlines Inc.’s chief executive Robert Deluce says he hasn’t given up on hopes to fly jet airplanes out of Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport.
Deluce said the company hasn’t walked away from its conditional order of 30 CSeries jets from Bombardier Inc. Deposits for the aircraft are still in place, despite the fact Ottawa closed the door to allowing jets to fly from the island airport more than two years ago.
“We continue to be of the view that it is not really a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Deluce said in an interview after his induction this week into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
“Whether that comes with additional regional routes, or whether a second fleet type gives us the longerrange destinations that come with flying an airplane like the CSeries, that will play out in due course.”
Shortly after the Liberals were elected in 2015, Transport Minister Marc Garneau tweeted that the federal government would not reopen the tripartite agreement between Transport Canada, the City of Toronto and the Toronto Port Authority. The agreement bans jets from flying out of the Billy Bishop airport, effectively halting the airline’s plans to fly to destinations such as Vancouver and the Caribbean.
The airline had been hoping to extend its runway to allow larger jets to fly in and out of the airport, located on the Toronto Islands south of the downtown core. The proposed expansion has been controversial, with opponents expressing concerns about noise, pollution and traffic. Porter is the main carrier operating out of Billy Bishop, with 172 of the 202 landing slots allocated to the airline.
The government’s announcement forced Porter to refocus its growth plans on its short-range, regional destinations that can be served by its existing fleet of Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, which have a maximum range of about 2,000 kilometres. The CSeries CS100 jet has a range of about 5,700 kilometres.
The airline also announced this month that it had joined the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s TSA PreCheck program, which expedites security screening for travellers coming from the U.S.
“Now it’s a matter of ensuring that the infrastructure catches up to our growth, which means finishing the terminal upgrade, getting pre-clearance in place and potentially addressing the whole (runway and safety area) question,” he said.
“These things will take place over the next number of years, and I think they will present some pretty good opportunities.”
Deluce said Porter, which is a private company and does not disclose its financial results, is on solid financial footing, with zero net debt and “ample cash” on the balance sheet.
He said he hasn’t discounted taking the company public one day, although it’s not something that is being considered in the near term.
“There aren’t any definitive plans at this point,” Deluce said.
“But if there is a requirement to do so, or the right opportunity presents itself, we may well do it at the appropriate time ... maybe to coincide when we take on additional airplanes and we perhaps need additional financing.”