Porter celebrates 20 years as Ottawa becomes key part of carrier’s expansion

Michael Deluce (right), the CEO of Porter, cuts a cake at the Ottawa International Airport to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the company’s inaugural flight alongside Coun. Riley Brockington (left) and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe (centre). Oct. 23, 2006. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa).

Porter Airlines is marking 20 years in the skies, having grown from two turboprop aircrafts flying between Ottawa and Toronto to a fleet of 85 planes serving more than 130 routes across North America and the Caribbean.

The airline celebrated the anniversary Friday at the Ottawa International Airport, where its first flights took off on Oct. 23, 2006.

Since then, Porter has expanded beyond its original regional network, adding Embraer E195-E2 jets to its fleet of De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprops and extending its map of routes into the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Ottawa has become a major part of that expansion.

“We are now the largest airline in Ottawa by a significant margin,” said Deluce at Friday’s event. “We operate 31 different destinations this winter, and we have 15 destinations within our network that no other airline even serves, and so Ottawa really is a hometown for us.”

Porter has more than 500 employees based in Ottawa and opened a 150,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance facility at the airport in 2024. The facility includes two hangars and supports maintenance of both its turboprop and jet fleets.

Susan Margles, president and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, says Porter has helped change the local aviation landscape.

“Their presence here has created a new competitive dynamic and a new market dynamic for the citizens of Ottawa. And I think without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” says Margles. “And the way to get that service that goes beyond just your population base is to be able to become more of a hub airport so that the airlines can bring people from other destinations through Ottawa to make the business case for new destinations.”

Porter is also adding four new nonstop destinations from Ottawa for the upcoming winter season: Aruba, Montego Bay in Jamaica, Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, and Los Cabos in Mexico. Flights are scheduled to begin between November and December.

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Deluce said the airline plans to increase frequencies on existing routes in 2027 and introduce additional markets from Ottawa, although he did not identify the destinations.

The expansion comes as airlines face pressure from rising fuel prices and other industry challenges. Deluce says Porter has continued to see strong demand.

“Yes, there is a little bit of upward pressure on fares and across the industry as a whole but traffic remains very strong,” he says. “And for Porter, our traffic is still growing at 30, 35 per cent this year. And so, we’re filling more seats on more capacity, and continuing to focus only on the customer, and making sure that every experience is the best we can deliver.”

The anniversary also brought together employees who have been with the airline for much of its history.

“I love the people. I love the culture. I love the brand itself. I love the experience that we give our passengers,” says Shelley Firth, an 18-year Porter employee. “It’s a very unique and rewarding workplace.”

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