TORONTO — More growth. More frequencies. More aircraft. As Porter Airlines celebrates its first 20 years – and rightly so – the company’s horizon includes a plan through 2031 that Porter’s President, Kevin Jackson, tells Travelweek will further Porter’s already exponential expansion.
Kevin Jackson, President, Porter Airlines
It hardly seems fair to ask ‘what’s next?’ at a bash celebrating two decades in business, but Jackson was up to the task.
“We have a five-year plan, so we know where we want to be in our 25th year, and it’s a lot more aircraft. More aircraft create a lot more growth opportunities. We know what we want to do,” he said.
Travelweek spoke with Jackson as colleagues, friends and industry partners partied with the Porter team at Radisson Blu, just a stone’s throw from the airline’s HQ at Billy Bishop Airport.
The festivities continued this morning at YTZ with a cake-cutting and remarks from Robert Deluce, Porter’s founder and executive chairman, along with Toronto Port Authority’s RJ Steenstra and Nieuport Aviation’s Jennifer Quinn. YTZ-YOW was Porter’s very first route on Oct. 23, 2006.
EAST & WEST
First, Porter is setting its sights on filling in gaps in eastern Canada. “When we started, we started in the big markets: Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Now in this stage of growth, we’re moving into those secondary markets within eastern Canada, including Hamilton, London and MET in Montreal,” said Jackson.
Those new secondary markets are introducing Porter “to a whole new set of communities that we haven’t served before. You’ll see extensive growth from those communities in the near term. We’ll see that in 2027 for sure.”
One travel advisor at last night’s party flew in from Winnipeg just for the event. All the E195-E2s and the cross-continent expansion have won Porter many, many fans out west. What about some secondary hubs in Western Canada?
“People keep asking us when we’re going to come out west, especially customers,” said Jackson. “We’re very pleased that this winter we’ve introduced some point-to-point flying out of Western Canada. We’re doing it out of Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton to points south. But I would say our focus over the next several years remains densifying our service in Eastern Canada.” That means more destinations from YXU, YHM and YHU.
Of course there’s major competition out West. Jackson isn’t daunted.
“We’ll keep testing in the west. We’re not afraid of the west, we’re not afraid of the dynamics out there. But our strength is in the east, and we’ll keep strengthening in the west.”
PARTNERSHIPS & LOYALTY
Partnerships play another key role in the five-year plan. Porter’s biggest partnership is with Air Transat. What started as a codeshare agreement grew into a joint venture in 2023. “We’re continuing to expand our vacation offerings through Air Transat, flown by us. As we expand across the sun markets, you’ll see more and more of that,” said Jackson.
Porter also partners with more than a dozen other airlines. “You look at other airlines like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and British Airways. These are coming in today to increase feed across the network, but you’re also going to see us expand into loyalty in that space.”
Speaking of loyalty, last year Porter launched its VIPorter credit card with BMO. That created a platform, said Jackson. “Five years from now, we want to look back at VIPorter and see a travel loyalty program in Canada that allows people to earn in many ways and redeem globally. We can do that through our partners, even though we’re focused on North America. So the expansion of VIPorter is another key area.”
HERE AND NOW: JET FUEL COSTS & ELBOWS UP
Creating opportunities for growth while at the same time dealing with soaring jet fuel costs, and ‘Elbows Up’ – it’s a juggling act that every Canadian airline knows all too well right now.
Like every carrier Porter has been trimming capacity and updating its network. The airline’s $40 temporary fuel surcharge also remains in place, for VIPorter reward flight redemptions, after a brief reprieve to $20.
“Overall industry capacity from Canada to the U.S. is down year over year, but ours is up,” said Jackson. “We’re continuing to grow because we’re introducing new markets this year. In 2026 we introduced Boston and Nashville. We also started expanding from Montreal into Boston, so we continue to enter new markets.”
After last year’s immediate impact from Elbows Up, the U.S. routes are faring far better this year, he added, especially in the U.S. West. “We’re seeing strength across most of our transborder network, with Florida and the western parts of the U.S. by far the strongest. We’re adding frequency next summer, and you’re going to see us continue expanding into the U.S.”
That’s not to say overall Canada-to-U.S. demand isn’t still down, “but we’re filling the void that our competitors are leaving. We’re filling that void and growing, and we’re very pleased with the performance of all those markets.”
SUN ROUTES
Eddy Eldebs, Porter’s SVP and Chief Commercial Officer, told Travelweek that ‘Elbows Up’ and the industry-wide downturn in transborder travel meant Porter hit the accelerator on its sun destination expansion.
“The U.S. situation last year certainly put us in a position where we had to pivot quickly. We expanded into the south about a year earlier than we had expected because of that situation,” said Eldebs.
The airline took delivery of its first E195-E2 aircraft in early 2023, opening up not just the west but also the south. Porter now serves 33 destinations and 131 routes across every Canadian province, the U.S., and sun destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Some 56 E2s are currently in service, along with 29 De Havilland Dash 8-400s.
The shining stars for Porter in the western U.S. include markets like L.A., San Francisco, Las Vegas and Phoenix. For this coming winter, Porter’s new sun destinations include Aruba, Costa Rica, Los Cabos and Turks and Caicos. “We announced five new routes last winter, our first winter into Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. We were very happy with the results, so much so that we’ve expanded again this year,” said Eldebs.
The expansion into Toronto Pearson has also been a huge boon for Porter. “Pearson is going very, very well,” said Eldebs with a smile.
YTZ JETS & 20 YEARS BY THE NUMBERS
Travelweek also asked Eldebs about the jets or no-jets debate for Billy Bishop Airport. Porter has long been in favour of jet aircraft at YTZ. “We’re always ready if the opportunity were to come,” he said. “We’re very supportive of operating jets from the airport. Smaller, modern aircraft would do very well there.”
Over the past 20 years Porter has grown from two aircraft to 85. “We’ve grown from 115 team members in 2006 to over 4,413 team members now, and we’ve grown from a small regional airline to Canada’s third-largest airline,” said Eldebs just before raising his glass for a toast. “Cheers to 20 years!”
Porter’s 20th anniversary incentives for consumers include a VIPorter points giveaway for VIPorter members, with a chance to win 20,000 loyalty points every day for 20 days, from Oct. 15 – Nov. 3. There’s an incentive for advisors too. Porter has also released new branded merch for the big occasion.
THE VALUE OF TRAVEL ADVISORS
Nearly half of Porter’s bookings come through travel advisors.
“Porter is very popular with business travellers, and they like to buy their travel through travel agencies,” said Jackson. “So travel agencies are a very important part of serving that customer segment, which is very popular on Porter. Plus, when you’re introducing yourself to so many new routes and markets, travel agencies are really important in letting travellers know that Porter is an option in a market where they may not be familiar with us yet.”
He said advisors understand what makes Porter different.
“Travel agencies are great in that way. When they offer Porter in a market where a consumer may not be familiar with us, travel advisors tell them who we are, what we stand for and the service we offer. They’re so important in marketing the Porter product. We greatly value travel advisors.”
Lead image caption: All smiles as the Porter Airlines team celebrates its 20th anniversary
