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A few articles from the past few weeks.. Deluce saying that Proter on track to make a profit and mulling over Toronto-NY flights.
Dec 4,2006 (CBC)-Porter Airlines on track to make profit: CEO
Can Porter Airlines, the privately owned carrier flying out of Toronto's island airport, survive on flights that are only half full?
It depends on whom you ask.
Some critics who battled the decision that allowed the airline to fly out of downtown Toronto have spent the past six weeks meticulously counting the number of passengers, trying to figure out whether the airline is making enough money to stay in the air.
Bill Freeman, a spokesman for the residents' group Community Air, says the planes aren't full enough for Porter to make money, while competition with Air Canada and WestJet has grown stiffer since Porter Airline's first flight.
But Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, warns critics not to count on the airline's failure.
Independent observers put the ratio of filled seats on Porter planes at about half to two-thirds, while Deluce has remained tight-lipped about numbers of passengers.
However, he has hinted the planes don't even need to be half full for the flights to be profitable.
In fact, Deluce said, the company is on track to turning a profit in its first year.
"We're very pleased with where we are now, given the very short period of time we've actually been operating," Deluce said.
Porter will begin offering flights to Montreal next week.
Fledgling Porter mulls Toronto-N.Y. flight
Porter Airlines, whose flights from Toronto's downtown airport to Ottawa and, next month, to Montreal have sparked a holiday fare war, is "looking closely" at adding New York city as its third destination early in the new year, chief executive Robert Deluce said.
In what could prove to be a risky move for the month-old airline, Mr. Deluce said in an interview that Porter plans to add flights from its base at Toronto's island airport to Chicago or, preferably, New York by this spring.
"We get more calls about New York than any other destination," he said. "It's clearly a place that people would like to have access to from a downtown airport."
Porter's expansion strategy differs markedly from that of other upstarts such as WestJet Airlines Ltd., which stuck close to its home market in Western Canada for years before attempting an assault on busy U.S. destinations.
In fact, WestJet, the biggest airline success story in Canada over the past decade, was forced to scrap flights to New York last year because of an inability to secure access to more gates at the busy LaGuardia Airport. The routes have yet to be relaunched.
Mr. Deluce said his plans for the Big Apple include flights to both LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport in neighbouring New Jersey, which he said is growing in popularity among travellers because of rail connections to Manhattan. Flights to Chicago would land at Midway International Airport.
Porter, which flew its first flight between Toronto's island airport and Ottawa in late October, is betting that business flyers will prefer to use Toronto's downtown airport instead of battling traffic to Pearson International Airport in nearby Mississauga.
While Mr. Deluce declined to reveal information about Porter's bookings, he said the airline's load factors -- an industry measure of how well an airline fills its planes -- are better than expected.
He also denied that a recent seat sale offering fares as low as $66 from Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal during the typically busy Christmas travel season was a sign the airline was having trouble attracting passengers. Air Canada was offering similarly priced fares between the same cities for December travel on its Web site yesterday.
"I think both WestJet and Air Canada are feeling the effects of Porter being in the marketplace," said Mr. Deluce, adding its holiday pricing was in response to the competition's pricing strategies. "We didn't go to $66 or $69 until the market moved in that direction."
Jacques Kavafian, an analyst with Research Capital, said last week that Porter's decision to offer a December seat sale isn't all that surprising given that most business travel tends to fall off during the holidays.
Porter, which promises "flying refined" in an era of rampant airline cost-cutting, managed to get off the ground despite complaints from local residents and Toronto politicians who argued against the further "commercialization" of Toronto's island airport.
Dec 4,2006 (CBC)-Porter Airlines on track to make profit: CEO
Can Porter Airlines, the privately owned carrier flying out of Toronto's island airport, survive on flights that are only half full?
It depends on whom you ask.
Some critics who battled the decision that allowed the airline to fly out of downtown Toronto have spent the past six weeks meticulously counting the number of passengers, trying to figure out whether the airline is making enough money to stay in the air.
Bill Freeman, a spokesman for the residents' group Community Air, says the planes aren't full enough for Porter to make money, while competition with Air Canada and WestJet has grown stiffer since Porter Airline's first flight.
But Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, warns critics not to count on the airline's failure.
Independent observers put the ratio of filled seats on Porter planes at about half to two-thirds, while Deluce has remained tight-lipped about numbers of passengers.
However, he has hinted the planes don't even need to be half full for the flights to be profitable.
In fact, Deluce said, the company is on track to turning a profit in its first year.
"We're very pleased with where we are now, given the very short period of time we've actually been operating," Deluce said.
Porter will begin offering flights to Montreal next week.
Fledgling Porter mulls Toronto-N.Y. flight
Porter Airlines, whose flights from Toronto's downtown airport to Ottawa and, next month, to Montreal have sparked a holiday fare war, is "looking closely" at adding New York city as its third destination early in the new year, chief executive Robert Deluce said.
In what could prove to be a risky move for the month-old airline, Mr. Deluce said in an interview that Porter plans to add flights from its base at Toronto's island airport to Chicago or, preferably, New York by this spring.
"We get more calls about New York than any other destination," he said. "It's clearly a place that people would like to have access to from a downtown airport."
Porter's expansion strategy differs markedly from that of other upstarts such as WestJet Airlines Ltd., which stuck close to its home market in Western Canada for years before attempting an assault on busy U.S. destinations.
In fact, WestJet, the biggest airline success story in Canada over the past decade, was forced to scrap flights to New York last year because of an inability to secure access to more gates at the busy LaGuardia Airport. The routes have yet to be relaunched.
Mr. Deluce said his plans for the Big Apple include flights to both LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport in neighbouring New Jersey, which he said is growing in popularity among travellers because of rail connections to Manhattan. Flights to Chicago would land at Midway International Airport.
Porter, which flew its first flight between Toronto's island airport and Ottawa in late October, is betting that business flyers will prefer to use Toronto's downtown airport instead of battling traffic to Pearson International Airport in nearby Mississauga.
While Mr. Deluce declined to reveal information about Porter's bookings, he said the airline's load factors -- an industry measure of how well an airline fills its planes -- are better than expected.
He also denied that a recent seat sale offering fares as low as $66 from Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal during the typically busy Christmas travel season was a sign the airline was having trouble attracting passengers. Air Canada was offering similarly priced fares between the same cities for December travel on its Web site yesterday.
"I think both WestJet and Air Canada are feeling the effects of Porter being in the marketplace," said Mr. Deluce, adding its holiday pricing was in response to the competition's pricing strategies. "We didn't go to $66 or $69 until the market moved in that direction."
Jacques Kavafian, an analyst with Research Capital, said last week that Porter's decision to offer a December seat sale isn't all that surprising given that most business travel tends to fall off during the holidays.
Porter, which promises "flying refined" in an era of rampant airline cost-cutting, managed to get off the ground despite complaints from local residents and Toronto politicians who argued against the further "commercialization" of Toronto's island airport.
