Porter Adds Second U.S. Point, Aircraft
With the introduction of new service between its base at Toronto City Center Airport (TCCA) and Chicago’s Midway Airport, Porter Airlines adds its second U.S. point on Nov. 12. Porter is the only carrier offering service between these two downtown airports. The airlines launched TCCA-Newark service earlier this year.
The full schedule includes six roundtrip flights every weekday, plus two Saturday and three Sunday. Porter operates a 70-seat version of the Bombardier Q400. Expanded service to further U.S. destinations such as Boston, Washington and Philadelphia is planned as additional aircraft are delivered over the next 18 months.
An initial schedule of three daily roundtrip flights per weekday and two each on Saturday and Sunday will be in effect until Jan. 7. As of Jan. 8, the full schedule of six daily weekday flights and added weekend service will be implemented as Porter’s eighth aircraft is put into service. Introductory fares starting at $149 one-way, plus fees and taxes, are available for booking.
“The unbeatable convenience of Toronto City Center Airport combined with Midway’s location allows Porter to provide the only truly urban service between two of North America’s leading cities,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines. “We are continuing to successfully add destinations, aircraft and employees at a time when many airlines are limiting growth plans, cutting routes and introducing new fees.”

Exercises Mores Q400 Options
In other news, Porter exercised options on two more Bombardier Q400s in a deal valued at $52 million. The order represents aircraft 17 and 18 in the Porter fleet, with a scheduled delivery at the end of 2009.
Porter’s initial 10 firm and 10 option Q400 order is valued at over $500 million US. Six aircraft are delivered and currently in service.
“We’re looking forward to adding more Q400s to the fleet over the next 18 months as we take delivery of these aircraft,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines. “Porter’s passengers and employees continue to enjoy the comfort, reliability and performance the Q400 provides.”
“The backlog for our Q400 airliner has surpassed 100 and demand for the aircraft continues to be strong,” said Gary R. Scott, president, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “The Q400 airliner’s quiet performance, 360-knot (667 km/h) cruise speed, fuel efficiency and lower emissions position it as the benchmark aircraft for short-haul travel.”
"The backlog for our Q400 airliner has surpassed 100 and demand for the aircraft continues to be strong," said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. "The Q400 airliner's quiet performance, 360-knot (667 km/h) cruise speed, fuel efficiency and lower emissions position it as the benchmark aircraft for short-haul travel."
Porter Airlines currently operates six Q400 aircraft from its base at the Toronto City Centre Airport. The Q400 airliner is ideally suited to this downtown airport and Porter was recently recognized by Bombardier for achieving dispatch reliability rates exceeding 99 per cent in 2007.
With this order, Bombardier has now recorded firm orders for a total of 322 Q400 and Q400 NextGen airliners, with 210 delivered as of July 31, 2008.

Horizon Air to Add Paine Field
After an internet survey revealed strong support for scheduled airlines service at Paine Field in Snohomish County, Horizon Air began pursuing plans to introduce daily air service at the airport near Everett, Wash. before next summer.
The announcement comes after a 6-0 vote last month by the Everett City Council in favor of a resolution supporting scheduled commercial flights at Paine Field. Citizens Right to Fly from Paine Field launched the survey August 29 and reported 900 responses by September 19 of which 71 percent favored the idea of scheduled service from Snohomish County Airport. It provided the first indication the public may support such service. Previously, information has been limited to news coverage and protests by opposition groups and elected officials. Paine currently has 400 operations daily, according to the Snohomish County Business Journal.
While Allegiant is considering service to Las Vegas, Horizon is investigating the possibility of service to Portland and Spokane with schedules timed to facilitate same-day business trips between the cities. Snohomish County travelers could also fly out of Paine Field and connect in Portland to many beyond destinations.
“Rather than suffer on the I-5 slog or endure tedious hours on I-90, Snohomish County residents would be able to travel between these three Northwest regions much more quickly with Horizon Air from Paine Field,” said Dan Russo, Horizon’s vice president of marketing and communications.
Mindful of community concerns about noise, Horizon would operate the flights with its quiet
76-seat Bombardier Q400s. Horizon’s service from Paine Field would also have the potential to aid commercial development of the Snohomish County region by making it easier and less time-consuming to get there.
Horizon last considered Paine Field-Portland flights in 1998, at that time using 37-seat Q200s. The airline eventually opted not to pursue the plan and instead focused on building more flight activity at its Seattle hub with the larger Q400s.
Before making a final decision on whether to provide the new service, Horizon needs to secure a cost-effective lease agreement at the airport related to the terminal facilities necessary for check-in, screening of passengers and baggage, and flight boarding.
Until now, public views on the issue have been limited to news media coverage of a support group (the business-based Private Enterprise Coalition), an opposition group of Mukilteo citizens (Save Our Communities) and the opposition efforts of elected officials (Mayor Joe Marine and the Mukilteo City Council; Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and the Snohomish County Council, except for Councilman John Koster, who favors the issue).
"The convenience of flying from Paine Field is popular with the public in every area of Snohomish County (according to the survey)," said Greg Tisdel in Everett, co-chair of Fly Paine Field, along with Todd Brunner of Lynnwood, both Snohomish County business owners.