OTTAWA — My day began with trouble in the Ottawa airport. My traveling companion couldn’t print her boarding passes. But after a long wait in a nearby Tim Hortons, we were finally given a ticket and the all-clear to proceed.
Then, I had a hiccup with security when I asked if my film camera could be manually checked. The security representatives looked at me, and then at my Pentax.
“Film camera?”
It was like being told your haircut was lame. We waited some more, and by the time they handed the camera back, all prodded and poked, I was ready to call it a day.
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“Keep your boarding pass out,” my friend, a seasoned Porter flier, said confidently. I scoffed but did as I was told.
Little did I know that when you fly with Porter, you get more than just air time, you get an experience. Founded in 2006, with headquarters at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Porter Airlines is a relatively new player, but one dedicated to promoting quality service. In the last two years, Porter has been ranked a top regional airline by SkyTrax and Condé Nast, and the service is notable.
For instance, if you’re leaving from Ottawa, Toronto, or Newark, you get to wait in an airport lounge. A flash of your boarding pass gets you access to free Wi-Fi, daily newspapers, plush armchair seating, and . . . was that an espresso machine?
“We try to emphasize the concept of a premium service environment that is carried through the entire passenger experience,” said Brad Cicero, an airlines spokesperson. “The lounges are defining features that people know Porter for.” Every passenger becomes a VIP.
After some shortbread cookies and a cappuccino, we boarded a plane to Toronto. Forty-five minutes from start to finish, the landing gear was out before I had finished my complimentary vegetable chips. Lounging in a leather seat, I suddenly noticed a plain of gray fog, rolling off Lake Ontario and crawling toward the city below, swallowing up the runway.
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As if on cue, a sheepish voice coughed to life over the intercom. “This is your pilot speaking.” A pause. “There is zero visibility in Toronto, so we’re turning around and going back to Ottawa.” Everyone started to grumble, drowning out his quiet signoff: “We apologize for the delay.”
Toronto has two airports, but Porter only uses one. The larger Pearson International Airport is a half-hour drive from the city and hosts 65 different airlines across two terminals. Then, there’s the smaller Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, located on an island near the city center and, by this summer, accessible by a brand new pedestrian tunnel.
Despite its convenient location, Billy Bishop had recently fallen by the wayside as Pearson grew bigger and better. In 2006, Air Canada partner Jazz Air was evicted from the island airport and fledgling Porter Airlines swooped in and called dibs.
“We believed that the airport was always underutilized,” said Cicero. “There was an opportunity to come in and provide a new service.”
And provide they did. Porter is now responsible for roughly 85 percent of the airport’s daily departure and arrival slots, and they fill those slots with some of the best birds in the business.
Currently, Porter controls a fleet of 26 Bombardier Q400 turboprops. Each plane is rigged with a Pratt and Whitney engine, capable of mustering over 5,000 horsepower while producing half the CO2 emissions of similarly sized competitors. But for an airline looking to expand to distant western locations such as San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, Porter needs jets.
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In 2013, Bombardier introduced the most environmentally friendly jet currently in production: the CS100. Each craft is designed to carry up to 125 passengers, while using less fuel per person than most compact cars. Recently dubbed “whisper jets,” the CS100 is also four times quieter than its closest competitors.
Recently, Porter proposed to extend Billy Bishop runways by 650 feet to accommodate jet service. The Toronto City Council voted in favor of negotiations in 2014, which jumpstarted a series of assessments regarding environmental, safety, and municipal concerns. So far, so good.
“We are very hopeful,” said Cicero, adding that jets at Billy Bishop will introduce a new level of competition to the Canadian air industry and subsequently lower fares for passengers. So when will we know if jets get the green light? “If everything stays on this timeline, by the end of the year,” Cicero said, which would mean that CS100 flights could be introduced to Porter terminals as early as 2016.
Over Ottawa, the landing gear deployed and we coasted to a stop without a hitch. I stood, stretched, and hoisted my bag over my shoulder. Right then, a familiar sheepish voice came over the intercom.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” Everyone whipped their heads to the front. “After we refuel, we’ll be heading right back to Toronto.” One woman threw down her purse and asked for a glass of wine. Cheers to Porter.
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Emeralde Jensen-Roberts can be reached at emeralde.roberts @globe.com.