Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines (stylized in all lowercase as porter) is a Canadian airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto. It is the third largest airline in Canada, behind Air Canada and WestJet. Owned by Porter Aviation Holdings, formerly known as REGCO Holdings Inc., Porter operates regularly scheduled flights from its bases in Eastern Canada, primarily Ottawa, Toronto–Billy Bishop and Toronto–Pearson airports, to locations across North America using a fleet of De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400 turboprop and Embraer 195-E2 jet aircraft.

Porter's operation at Toronto City Airport, located on an island near downtown was launched in 2006 with some controversy. Robert Deluce, who is now the Executive Chairman of Porter Airlines, proposed creating a regional airline using Bombardier turboprop aircraft to service major cities of Canada within the range of Toronto. A planned bridge to the airport was cancelled in 2003, leading to lawsuits between Deluce and the City of Toronto. The airline lost the case in court but the idea for the airline remained. With the compensation received from the Toronto Port Authority for the lawsuit, REGCO bought the island airport terminal used by Air Canada Jazz and terminated Air Canada's access. Porter has expanded its operations since 2006, adding more destinations and planes. Porter opened a new, larger passenger terminal at the island airport in March 2010, connected to the mainland by a pedestrian tunnel opened in 2015.

In 2013, Porter made a proposal to expand Toronto Island airport to allow jets. City Council reserved its support, requiring the controversial proposal to be the focus of port authority studies. In November 2015, the federal government announced it would not support the proposal. On March 18, 2020, Porter announced that they would suspend all flights, initially from March 20 through to June 1 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension of service was then extended several times, until it was announced that Porter would be returning to service starting September 8, 2021, nearly 18 months since all flights were suspended. Porter Airlines reached an agreement with the Government of Canada for loans valued up to CA$270.5 million, which were used as a capital reserve during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery period.

In July 2021, Porter announced that it would begin flying out of Toronto Pearson International Airport and expand its destinations throughout Canada, the United States, and Caribbean, starting in mid-2022. In addition, the airline expanded its operation at Ottawa's Macdonald–Cartier International Airport. With Porter’s Embraer 195-E2 being deployed from Toronto–Pearson and its De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400 serving the small Toronto-Billy Bishop, the Ottawa hub is the only one where both aircraft types have a regular presence, making it an important hub for Porter's network. Porter's largest maintenance hangar is located at the Ottawa airport.