Porter Airlines

Have flown Porter from Toronto to Newark 2 or 3 times a year for the past 5 years and without fail there is a delay or cancellation of the return flight. Last night - April 7 2014 was the worst. We were getting ready to board our flight when they suddenly announced there was unscheduled maintenance on the plane. Then they said there was a mechanical problem and they had to wait for another plane to come in. After finally boarding they announce we are 20th in line for take-off. Then the airport shuts down the runway for 20 minutes. By the time we take-off its after 10pm so no way we can land in TO before the 11pm curfew. We fly for about an hour thinking we are going to Toronto when they tell us we have to land in Ottawa. They blame all this on the weather. Put us up in a hotel 30 minutes from the airport. Porter fails miserably when it comes to having a back-up plan and communicating with their passengers. We have the right to know we were not going to Toronto and making our own decision about whether to stay on a flight which will have to be re-routed. Will never fly Porter again. They are inept at dealing with basic change management. And they want to expand - good luck with that.

YTZ-YOW. This was the first time for me to use Porter and had very high expectation but I was very disappointed with the level of ground service and delays. Check in took over an hour then information centre at the lounge weren't interested in answering about my questions about the flight. The flight was delayed by an hour thus missing my meeting in Ottawa. It wasn't worth the money.

Following two days of delays cancellations rebooking and repeated cancellations we had a Porter Agent split my young daughter's original reservation from Thunder Bay through Toronto to Ottawa and we arranged for a family member to pick her up at Billy Bishop Airport. After further delays she eventually left Thunder Bay on Porter flight 638 at 21.29 and was diverted to Hamilton during the last stages of landing just minutes before 23.00. The diversion is due to a curfew on landing and taking off from Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport. Our issue is that Porter Airline did not communicate to passengers that the flight would be diverted. Porter did not inform those waiting to pick up passengers at Billy Bishop Airport. Airport was closed at 23.00 and no staff were present. The family member sent to Billy Bishop Airport was left searching for our daughter. We eventually found that the flight was diverted to Hamilton and that our daughter took a shuttle bus to Union Station in downtown Toronto. Sometime after 02.00 am a local hotel was arranged where she stayed for a few short hours before making her way to the Billy Bishop Airport for her connecting flight. Our main concern is the lack of communication from Porter and the inability to contact anyone from Porter outside of regular business hours. Customers should beware of booking Porter through their hub at Billy Bishop Airport.

Flew round trip from Toronto to Quebec City. First leg was excellent (on-time nice staff). Return flight cancelled due to severe weather which was understandable. However customer support for was nil; staff directed us to help line then vanished and no one was manning the phones (which cut out at 11pm). 3 days later and no response to voicemail or email. All we wanted was advice on whether to stick around for flights or try our luck with the train. Avoid them in the winter months or all together.

January 3rd flight 142 from Newark to Toronto. Scheduled at 7.30pm delayed at 0.30 am and should arrive at Hamilton where buses will wait for us to get to Toronto! No accommodation will be provided. This is so usual with this airline avoid it.

Halifax to Sault Ste. Marie Ontario: No bad weather conditions but delayed 1.5 hrs - was going to miss connecting flight so a very helpful employee got us on an earlier flight that went through Montreal and would get us there with 45 mins to spare. This flight also ended up being delayed but we got there with just enough time to run to the next flight. No issues although I didn't find the staff on board rude nor friendly. Bags arrived with no problems. Return flight - Sault Ste. Marie to Halifax: Half an hour late again. Flight was ok although no entertainment. We quickly got on the next flight and it was fine (Toronto to Ottawa). Then the last flight to Halifax was the most irritating noisy flight I've ever been on. We were stuck in a pocket of misbehaving children. I understand that kids will be kids but at some point a flight attendant should have asked the yelling to be toned down a bit.

Dec 26th 2013. Nice sunny day. Posted a 35 minute delay for our flight to Washington USA. After an hour we ask them if we will make our connecting flight to Iceland then on to Manchester they say yes. After almost 90 minutes delay we phone the main line they say we will leave shortly and make our connecting flight. Pilot says he will try and make up some time he doesn't and as we land we still have to pick up our bags and re-clear USA customs. People let us ahead of them in line and we by pass picking up our bags and the Iceland flight had already left! Nobody around at Porter counter. We talk to Porter in Toronto the next day they say there are no flights to Iceland for another few days! We book United Airlines to Manchester. Never again.

Dec 25th YTZ to YHZ. Return was Dec 31st YHZ to YTZ. Porter seems to be one of those airlines that people either love or hate. On the love side of the equation passengers get complimentary alcoholic beverages and box lunches that are tasty. Drinks are served in glass not plastic. On the hate side of the equation the airline can't seem to get organized when bad weather happens or when the plane fills up with too many leisure passengers all of whom tote 20 kg suitcases. Citing weight restrictions they remove those cases but tell nobody until they arrive at the destination. In today's environment it is tough to be a price leader as well as deliver excellent customer service at the same time. If they don't get the right balance soon they'll have more passengers leaving with bad impressions than favourable ones.

23 Dec 2013 Toronto (YTZ) - Ottawa (YOW). Porter Airlines is one of the few airlines you can count on to be delayed every single time you fly them. It is completely unacceptable that they constantly make their customers late and offer nothing to make up for any such inconvenience. Even just while sitting in the lounge for several hours waiting for my flight as other airlines had no issues getting their flights off the ground on time Porter cancelled two flights and suggested that those customers fly with another airline (and pay the exorbitant fees they were charging at the gate) just to get home on time for Christmas. In fact I was just notified that my return leg of the flight I am reviewing has also just been delayed. Flyer beware.

Absolutely horrible experience over the last three days trying to get our family friend back to New York. Sunday with almost no communication to passengers he sat waiting for 10 hours at Billy Bishop until flight was cancelled. Monday same thing - full day at airport scheduled flight cancelled. Today - they are on their third (3rd) plane and still haven't found one adequate to make the one hour trip to New York. I could have driven him back and forth to New York three times in the time we have been sitting here. inexcusable terrible service and we do not plan on ever using Porter again.