Well, actually....
Porter cleared for U.S. takeoff
RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR
Porter Airlines executive Robert Deluce stands atop the original control tower at Toronto City Airpot as a flight arrives at the terminal. Email story
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Jun 20, 2007 03:32 PM
Chris Sorensen
Business Reporter
Porter Airlines has been given permission to begin flights to New York despite objections by Air Canada and its regional carrier Jazz that the upstart carrier has been handed a “virtual monopoly†at Toronto’s island airport.
The U.S. Department of Transportation today said that Porter can operate both scheduled and charter airline service to U.S. destinations, noting that Porter's application meets all necessary requirements under the U.S.-Canada air service agreement and “is in the public interest.â€
Porter CEO Robert Deluce immediately applauded the decision.
“Regular service to New York will begin later this year and not later than the early part of 2008,†he said in a statement. “This is great news for business and leisure travelers, for the city of Toronto and the downtown economy.â€
A Porter spokesperson did not immediately return calls for further comment. An Air Canada Jazz spokesperson could not immediately be reached.
Porter, which launched from Toronto’s downtown airport last fall with daily flights to Ottawa and later Montreal, had initially planned to begin flying to New York, via Newark, N.J., in early April, but its application became bogged down as Air Canada and several U.S. airlines complained to U.S. regulators about access to the City Centre Airport.
Deluce accused Air Canada of attempting to stir up controversy south of the border.
Air Canada had argued in filings that Porter has managed to negotiate a sweetheart deal with the airport’s operator, the Toronto Port Authority, which limits the number of take-off and landing slots available for competitors. The issue is still before a federal court.
But the U.S. transportation department noted in its decision that the port authority has never denied a U.S. carrier access to the airport, and that it granted an initial request by US Airways to operate from the facility. US Airways has since scrapped its plans to fly to the island.
Porter, which is hoping to appeal to time-starved business fliers who wish to avoid congestion at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, ultimately plans to serve as many as nine U.S. destinations, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
