Ah, Porter Airlines. We do have a love-hate relationship with it. For one thing, isn't it grand that us Queens Quay residents can WALK to an airport and avoid the lineups at Pearson and a $50 plus cab ride (or $20 ride from the Airport Express pickup spot at the Westin). On the other hand, the noise, the frequency of planes flying over our neighbourhood.
The Globe and Mail has a story about Porter Airlines (you can read it here)
Air Canada, the old guard of Canadian airspace, spent the week teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, but Porter Airlines Inc., the 2½ -year-old upstart based out of the Toronto City Centre Airport, made headlines for a different reason. The tiny offshore airport played host to the federal government's announcement of $5-million in new spending for customs services at select airports, including Porter's on the Toronto Islands.
The funding, plus the government's decision to announce it at Porter's headquarters, was "a welcome endorsement of this airline," said Mr. Deluce. "The airport is maturing and coming of age and is now worthy of those more permanent facilities."
Translation: Porter is on the way up, not under.
And that means the long-running fight over whether the island closest to shore should host planes or a park is settled, at least for now.
The piece goes on to talk about the fight with Island activists. It looks like the airline, which is eyeing more markets like Washington, is expanding the number of flights.
"the company's recent decision to double the number of daily flights on the popular Montreal-Toronto route and bump the Toronto-Ottawa flight frequency by 50 per cent"
I actually quite like Porter. Flew once and it was lovely. I live right on QQ at Spadina. The noise is not that bad at all. The Gardiner is my only complaint, but it was here long before I moved here, and so was the airport. That's the choice I made and have no regrets. Congrats Porter and the 100s of peeps you employ.
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