Porter Airlines

Flew Ottawa-Halifax Return. Flight to Halifax on time return slightly delayed. Crews extremely friendly and efficient providing comfort to others during turbulence. Seat was leather wide enough and legroom more than good (I am 6 feet 155 lbs). Snacks provided were very good - their terra chips are unbeatable and I love their real glasses! My only gripe is the Ottawa lounge - there was free internet and drinks but the coffee machine was out of order and there was nothing to eat. I know Porter's Toronto lounge is better so I hope they improve Ottawa's!

On June 12 2014 Porter delayed my return flight 269 from Toronto to Ottawa for 45 minutes. No explanation from Porter staff in the Billy Bishop Airport lounge. Finally once on board the captain said the delay was because of refuelling problems in Montreal. While I was waiting for my delayed Ottawa flight Porter announced the cancellation of their flight from Washington. No explanation for that either. On June 24 2014 Porter delayed my return flight 267 from Toronto to Ottawa for 45 minutes. No explanation. Porter also announced their Toronto-Windsor flight was delayed. No explanation. Porter delayed my flight again for 45 minutes. No explanation. Then the plane arrived late and sat on the tarmac waiting for thunderstorms to clear. Thunderstorms cleared. There were no weather issues. Plane was not boarded. Then an announcement that because of a crew medical emergency flight 267 was cancelled. Porter has no crew backup no employees on standby even though Toronto is their headquarters their hub. Nor does Porter have any backup aircraft. When one is delayed or grounded their whole system collapses. Porter has expanded too quickly and are overextended on their routes. As such Porter is now demonstrably unreliable and a danger to the flying public.

I have been reading the previous comments and the Toronto/Newark link appears to be a real problem. I was caught in the computer chaos on Sunday June 8 and was delayed for 6.5 hours half in Newark and half in Toronto. These are my issues. There was no concern for the passengers no vouchers for food no good information no basic consideration. There was a standby in Toronto which would have got me home 2 hours sooner but there were no procedures in place to ensure that those most affected were given priority. It was just the usual whoever shows up first gets the seat. Porter executives and staff did face a catastrophic incident but were clearly not prepared to handle it. They are just not experienced enough. This was my first flight with Porter and also my last!

It should not take more than 10 hours to get home from Newark. Experienced delayed departure of 4 hours due to a computer problem in Toronto. Apparently this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. They were not helpful about getting the other members of our party home after they missed their connecting flights. My journey was terminating in Toronto. The shuttle bus people ought to have mentioned that TTC at Union Station was closed for construction but they did not. This added additional delay and expense to my journey.

YUL-YTZ May 28. Arrived late from an international flight and made it to check-in as Porter was about to close the flight. I asked if I could be bumped to this flight as I have had a long day and arrived in from France and she said this would not be a problem! It was a full flight - only one seat left - and the check-in agent was most happy to get me home an hour early. Service onboard stellar as always and I will continue to fly them as often as possible. People who gripe about Porter need to understand that in terms of poor weather they have chosen to fly on turboprop aircraft and in and out of an island airport where even the slightest change in poor weather can result in major delays and is not the airline's fault.

Toronto Island to Chicago Midway. Great airport and good free shuttle bus from/to Union Station downtown. Airport public areas similar to business lounge with free tea coffee soft drinks and snacks. Quick check in and boarding. Dash 8 400 with lots of foot room and leather seats. Very good inflight service box lunch and choice of free alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Surprisingly fast flight and landing in Midway. Quick US and polite customs with self-service kiosks for US and Canadian passengers. Baggage reclaim very fast. Good subway connection from Midway to Chicago loop but have correct change for ticket machines.

Took the family to Vermont for a ski holiday. The flight to Burlington was great the airport in Toronto was great free drinks and wide aisles made the kids happy while we waited. So far so good. However the flight out of Burlington was terrible. We sat in Burlington airport and waited and waited. No announcements no one at the gate or the desk to ask. The schedule board still said "on time" an hour after the scheduled departure time. We sat and waited for over two hours after our scheduled departure and heard nothing until the flight attendants walked past and told us the plane would leave soon. Very poor communication. I don't mind a delay but the lack of communication shows contempt for their customers.

My first time on Porter and I couldn't see what the hype was about. Flew one-way Sudbury-Toronto fare was excellent but the service was underwhelming. The interior of the planes is too clinical for my liking (just beige and grey) and the seats already looked worn. Check in was fine but flight attendants on this particular flight were not friendly at all no greeting at the door unsmiling for the whole journey and the service perfunctory. All the announcements were pre-recorded (aside from the captain) and the mood in the cabin was depressing. One of the flight attendants in particular looked just plain miserable for the whole journey. When we left the plane she just stared at the floor and repeated "see ya" to all the passengers - this did not feel like 4 star service. The only impressive thing was the drinks service lots of choice and everything free including wine and they use real glassware.

Newark to Toronto. Flight scheduled to depart Newark at 4pm. Delayed 2.5 hours. After boarding we taxied on the runway for about 30 minutes with not much information communicated to the passengers. Just thank you for your patience. An hour later for a total of 1.5 hours sitting in the plane we were finally told that our flight had been canceled due to poor weather conditions at YTZ. After reading all of the other reviews here I'm wondering if delays and cancellations are just standard fare for this airline. To top it off the agents at the counter were not very helpful in getting us rescheduled. It almost seemed like we were bothering them. I chose Porter because they had the lowest fares. I guess you get what you pay for. Lesson learned. Never again Porter.

The flight from Toronto to Myrtle Beach was quite satisfactory. The return flight was another story. Minutes from boarding there was an announcement to passengers saying that the plane was overweight and they had to make luggage a priority and golf clubs would likely be left behind. Fine. I could live with that. When we taxied to the runway we sat for an unusually long time then the Captain announced there was a discrepancy with the weight calculation and we had to return to the terminal to sort out the mistake. They took two trolley loads of baggage off and re-configured how they packed everything. Funny how they were re-loading golf clubs and not luggage! When all was said and done five pieces of people's luggage were left behind. I don't understand their logic in loading golf clubs when luggage was supposed to take priority. I don't understand how Porter can promote themselves as a golf destination airline and then not understand/plan that majority of people are going to travel with a piece of luggage and a golf bag. They should be pre-planning for 50lbs per person and make sure that requirement can be accommodated. I am certainly disappointed and will be telling everyone I know that if they are located close enough to drive to Billy Bishop to drive the extra distance and take a flight from Buffalo. A big "thumbs down" to Porter Airlines.