Archive for the 'Porter' Category

Porter Plans Sixth US Destination

Published
by
Dan Webb
on January 9, 2012
in Porter
. 3 Comments

Canadian carrier Porter airlines plans to grow its transborder presence next year, noting in its most recent traffic results release that “a sixth U.S. market is…anticipated by spring.” While the airline didn’t provide any further details, it is worth pointing out that Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC are listed as potential destinations on the carriers route map in its inflight magazine. In the United States, Porter serves Boston, Chicago (Midway), and Newark with multiple daily flights, and also has seasonal flights to Burlington and Myrtle Beach.

Meanwhile, 2011 marked dramatic growth for Porter, with a 35.9% year-over-year traffic increase on a 19.2% increase in capacity, resulting in a 7.5 point load factor boost, to 61.7%. And that load factor increase was certainly seen on the carrier’s big three transborder routes. Here’s the load factors on those routes for the first six months of the year (the most recent data available at the moment), as per the DOT:

While load factor growth is certainly nice to see, it doesn’t always equate with profitability. It is worth noting, however, that The Globe and Mail reported last month that privately-held Porter would turn it first annual profit in 2011.

Air Canada to Return to Toronto City

Published
by
Dan Webb
on October 7, 2010
in Air Canada and Porter
. 2 Comments

After getting kicked out a few years ago, Air Canada will return to Toronto  City next year. (It was called Toronto City Centre Airport back then, the airport has since been renamed Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.)

Air Canada says it will provide “up to” 15 flights per day to Montreal starting in February. If it does fly all 15, that would use up all 30 slots it received back in June.

The flights will be operated with Bombardier Q400 aircraft – and not by Jazz Air. While it was never certain Jazz would be serving the airport – it was reported earlier this year that the new Q400s that Jazz will be receiving next year could be used for Toronto City service.

Instead, Air Canada has formed “capacity purchase agreement with Sky Regional Airlines Inc., an associated company of Skyservice Business Aviation” for the service. (While the former CEO of Skyservice Airlines is the CEO of Skyservice Business Aviation, there’s no link to the defunct airline.)

“Selection of Sky Regional Airlines was based on a number of criteria including a competitive cost structure, a proven track record in customer service excellence and experience maintaining Dash 8 Q400 aircraft,” says Air Canada, who also notes that it “maintains a strong commercial relationship” with Jazz.

Air Canada did not mention how the aircraft would be configured in its news release. The Q400s that are headed to Jazz will seat 74 passengers. Porter’s aircraft seat 70. There’s also no word on how the flights will be branded and what livery the aircraft will wear. (For example, Air Georgian B1900s are painted in a livery close to the mainline colors.) The airline did not respond to a request for comment.

I’m also interested to see if Air Canada differentiates the product at all. Porter makes a point of providing a premium experience to its passengers.

And speaking of Porter, what does this mean for them? Fortunately, Air Canada’s number of slots puts a limit on competition, but 15 frequencies on a route like Toronto – Montreal is a big deal. Continental was also awarded slots at Toronto City, though the airline has yet to announce any service. (I would guess the slots would be used for Newark service.)

Naturally, Porter must provide a competitive schedule – which they’re already doing by flying more frequencies than Air Canada will. Price is of course a factor, and we’ll have to see if passengers will choose Porter for its amenities, such as its cushy lounges in Toronto or complimentary wine and beer onboard.

Meanwhile – the airline must continue to improve its financial results. The carrier lost $4.6 million (Canadian) in 2009, though it did turn a net profit of $455,000 in the last quarter of the year.

Porter’s traffic results continue to be interesting – with an 8.2 point boost in load factor during September, to 55.8%, on a 79.9% traffic boost while capacity rose 53.5%. Though without any revenue data we don’t get the full picture.

The airline also needs to keep on growing – though it does have a limit as to what it can do out of Toronto City. I’ve tried to take a stab at it before, but the airline said in its IPO filing it is focusing on routes under 800 miles. And it will also be very interesting if a U.S. codeshare partner were to emerge.

Porter’s Interesting August Traffic

Published
by
Dan Webb
on September 21, 2010
in Porter
. 1 Comment

Porter Airlines is now releasing traffic results. Consider me a fan. Here in the States we can get a good picture of private airlines through DOT’s financial and traffic data – but that isn’t the case elsewhere.

“Beginning a standard disclosure process summarizing our monthly traffic will help inform the market about Porter’s competitive positioning,” says Porter Chief Robert Deluce.

So it’s nice to get a look into Porter. The airline’s planned IPO provided airplane dorks and potential investors lots of information – but this is more current, obviously. And it seems that something has changed with Porter in the past couple of months.

Historically, the airline has run low load factors, and also maintains a low breakeven load factor (49% in 2009, says the airline). And the first half of this year seems to be pretty similar to past years. Load factor improved 4.2 points, to 48.5%, as traffic rose 133% and capacity was up 113%.

But in August? Load factor rose 11.4 points – to 63.9%, thanks to a 105% rise in traffic and a 69% capacity boost. July load factor was up 13 points.

So why the change? Deluce says that “The improvements shown in 2010, particularly in the second half of the year, largely reflect a fully deployed 20-aircraft fleet as of this spring. Capacity is being absorbed rapidly as new routes and additional flight frequencies mature in the market.”

New routes and frequencies can certainly provide explanation these changes – but is there something else going on? Has Porter changed anything with its pricing and revenue management to attract more passengers? I honestly don’t know. Unfortunately, Porter’s traffic release does not have any sort of revenue data. But this is certainly something to be thinking about.

What’s Porter’s Limit?

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 30, 2010
in Porter
. 7 Comments

Last week, Porter Airlines announced new service from its base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) to Moncton (YQM). The fact that the flight makes a stop in Ottawa, just like the airline’s Halifax service, got me thinking about Porter’s future, especially in terms of their future destinations.

Porter operates a fleet of Q400s, which is a very capable airplane. I’ve yet to fly in one but from what I’ve heard, it’s pretty comfortable inside and also is very good economics-wise compared to similar jets. It also has decent range. According to to Bombardier’s maps on its website, Air Canada would be able to fly a Jazz Q400 from Toronto to Miami if they wanted. But, unfortunately, Porter most likely wouldn’t be able to because of its base at YTZ.

That’s because airport’s runways aren’t very long – 8/26, the longest, measures only 3,988 feet. For context purposes, Bombardier says a Q400 with 70 passengers going on a 500nm haul (about 575 miles or or 926 kilometers), 3,726 feet of runway is required. That number is based on a “standard day” of 59 degrees, so that requirement goes up during the summer.

So, how limited is Porter out of its home base? Well, the best way to guess is to look at the longest routes on the airline’s route map. Right now, that’s the seasonal Myrtle Beach service that operates twice a week, which goes away this summer. That route comes in at 687 miles. During the summer, the longest route flown by Porter is Toronto-Thunder Bay, which is 579 miles long. So, using the always-handy Great Circle Mapper, we can take a look at those ranges out of the airport, and we can see that Moncton and Halifax are both out of reach, which makes it appear why stops in Ottawa are needed.

Of course, these are just my best guesses as to what Porter can do with from YTZ without some kind of weight restrictions. And there are plenty of more cities the airline can serve easily from its home base. But eventually, there’s a limit. So what can Porter do? One option is to pursue more point-to-point routes that aren’t from Toronto.

Or another way for the airline to expand its reach is through a codeshare agreement with another carrier. The problem is figuring out who that would be. My guess is that it would make sense for Porter to link up its route network to the hub of an American carrier that can send traffic to destinations that Porter just can’t reach with its current fleet – like the West Coast. Actually, it pretty much has to be an American carrier who will be Porter’s partner. It’s not like a European carrier can fly to YTZ! :D

I’d count out any Star Alliance carriers thanks to Porter’s rivalry with Air Canada. Skyteam (Delta) could work, but apparently they’re interested in WestJet right now. Since WestJet might partner with Delta first, one might assume that a Porter-Southwest partnership could work out considering Porter’s existing MDW service. If WestJet continues to buddy up with Skyteam carriers, oneworld will be completely shut out of Canada so Porter might be the best option for them and American. One would assume Chicago service would be needed to move to O’Hare. JetBlue works as well, considering Porter’s existing Boston operation, though New York service would need to be moved to JFK. Though one issue with a JetBlue partnership is time – passengers heading west would backtrack a bit by connecting in JFK or BOS.

Anyway, Porter still has some major cities missing from its route map that it can serve easily – Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. seem to stick out the most to me. But the range of the Q400 out of YTZ does make me think about how Porter will expand in the years to come.

Anyway, since this is one of my long, rambling, speculation-filled posts, I’d love to hear your comments. :D

Porter Launches Myrtle Beach Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 1, 2010
in Porter
. 0 Comments

On Sunday, Toronto-based Porter launched its new seasonal service to Myrtle Beach (KMYR/MYR) from Toronto City Centre Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (CYTZ/YTZ). (The name was changed in November in honor the Canadian flying ace Billy Bishop, who served in World War I.) The flights will operate twice a week (Sundays and Thursdays) until May 30th. Myrtle Beach is Porter’s fourth US destination, though the other three (New York (Newark), Chicago (Midway), and Boston) are more business destinations.

Destinations like MYR do represent a slight change in strategy for Porter, which has traditionally focused on business markets. But it has found success in more leisure-oriented markets like Halifax. And one would assume those Porter business travelers might want to play golf in South Carolina every now and then. :D

Regardless, there are no other nonstops to Myrtle Beach from Toronto. Plus, with the Q400 and only two frequencies a week, Porter isn’t throwing much capacity into the market here. So I think there’s a good case for the service here. Let’s see if they find it worthwhile to come back next year.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaspurves/ / CC BY 2.0

Porter Starts Boston Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on September 15, 2009
in Porter
. 1 Comment

Yesterday, Porter Airlines launched service to Boston’s Logan Airport, with three daily flights to Toronto’s City Centre Airport.

sep15

(Original photo – licensed by Creative Commons)

The airline faces competition on the route – Air Canada operates flights to its Toronto hub, mainly with mainline E-Jets, while American has a few ERJs a day. Despite the other service, I think Porter will do well as long as it keeps fares competitive. City Centre offers convenience, and the airline has a very nice inflight product. (I mean, heck, they have free booze. :D ) If Porter starts doing well, I wouldn’t be too shocked if American decided to drop the route altogether.

My next question, though, and this is still years away – but what’s next for them? Porter has clearly found a niche, but there’s only a finite number of decently-sized markets within a short range. The Q400 does have a decent range, but it best competes with jets (at least in terms of speed) on shorter routes. In addition, Porter’s future fleet choices are probably limited by the airport – City Centre’s longest runway is almost 4,000 feet.

Right now, Porter operates 13 Q400s, with 7 more on order.