Summary
- Porter has started flying to the US from Montreal.
- A four-weekly Los Angeles service began on June 27.
- The next day, a three-weekly San Francisco operation launched.
The fast-growing Canadian carrier Porter is the sixth-largest operator of flights between Canada and the US. In July 2024, it plans 210 weekly transborder departures (each way), up by 40% compared to the same summer month last year, albeit from a low base. Helping its development were its latest new Embraer E195-E2 routes.
Montreal to the US
Examining Porter’s entire schedule using OAG data shows that it did not fly to the US from Montreal until June 27. That day, its inaugural departure to Los Angeles took off, followed on June 28 by the start of San Francisco.
Both airport pairs compete directly with Air Canada, while fellow Star Alliance member United will commence San Francisco-Montreal for the first time on July 1. Air Transat served them until 2023 but now codeshares with Porter instead.
Photo: Vadim Rodnev | Shutterstock
The details of the two new routes are as follows. The E2s remain overnight in California, with a rather undesirable eastbound departure time of 06:15 in both cases. Of course, this will mean even higher costs, such as higher parking charges and hotel and meal expenses for the crew. Remaining overnight isn’t to feed flights in Montreal.
During the winter, Porter overnights aircraft in Florida and elsewhere. However, during the summer, they only remain overnight in Los Angeles (back to Montreal), San Francisco (back to Montreal), and Newark (back to Toronto Billy Bishop).
|
Start date |
Montreal to… |
Porter’s flights |
Schedule (times local) |
Max. block time |
Nautical miles (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
June 27 |
Los Angeles |
Four weekly |
19:40-22:36 out, 06:15-14:40 back |
5h 56m |
2,149 (3,981) |
|
June 28 |
San Francisco |
Three weekly |
20:00-23:12 out, 06:15-14:40 back |
6h 12m |
2,206 (4,086) |
Porter now has 35 E2s
More than one in two of Porter’s aircraft is now an E2 (55%), all with 132 seats. Some 16 seats are PorterReserve (36″ legroom), 20 are PorterClassic Stretch (34″), and 96 are PorterClassic seats (30″).
The carrier is well known for its higher-quality hard product, particularly its desirable two-two configuration without the middle seat, which helps to make such long sectors more comfortable and desirable. It might be different in PorterClassic.
Image: Porter
Porter’s aircraft size means it will have higher seat-mile costs than the larger equipment competitors operate. It must achieve higher fares to offset the cost disadvantage. Of course, its smaller aircraft have lower trip costs, and it requires fewer passengers to break even a particular percentage.
Porter’s five longest routes
They are shown below, organized by distance. While an unfair comparison for various reasons, they are shorter than multiple US/Canada-Europe routes. As examples, the top two airport pairs cover more distance (based on the Great Circle) than the likes of Halifax-Keflavik, Terceira-Boston, Montreal-Keflavik, St John’s-London Gatwick, Boston-Ponta Delgada, Boston-Keflavik, New York JFK-Terceira, and more.
|
Nautical miles (km) |
Routing |
Comments |
|---|---|---|
|
2,206 (4,086) |
Montreal-San Francisco |
Three weekly in the summer only; began in June 2024 |
|
2,149 (3,981) |
Montreal-Los Angeles |
Four weekly in the summer only; began in June 2024 |
|
1,994 (3,693) |
Montreal-Vancouver |
Daily to double daily; began in April 2024 |
|
1,963 (3,636) |
Toronto-San Francisco |
Daily; began in January 2024 |
|
1,924 (3,562) |
Ottawa-Vancouver |
Double daily; began in July 2023 |
Will you be flying Porter on the two new routes? Let us know in the comments section.