Porter Airlines received an early Christmas present with the delivery of the first two of 50 Embraer E195-E2 ordered by the airline at a ceremony Dec. 21 at Embraer’s headquarters in Brazil. In the run up to the new year, Embraer will deliver a further three aircraft to Porter.
The new aircraft will allow the carrier to open up operations throughout North America, including to the west coast, southern US, Mexico, and the Caribbean with initial deployment from Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Halifax, Montreal, and Ottawa also to see new services with the E195-E2.
The aircraft has chosen to configure the 146-seat aircraft in a comfortable 132-seat all-economy configuration, with a variety of seat pitches on offer for their guests: 36, 34, and 30 inches.
“The official delivery of these aircraft is the beginning of a new era for Porter,” said Porter president and CEO Michael Deluce. “The E195-E2 enables us to reach across the continent, beyond our Eastern Canada roots, while introducing a level of service for economy air travellers that no other North American airline provides.
Deluce says the first planes will be ready to go into regular service in February.
In total, Porter has orders with Embraer for up to 100 E195-E2 aircraft; 50 firm commitments and 50 purchase rights. In 2021, Porter ordered 30 Embraer E195-E2 jets, with purchase rights for a further 50 aircraft, worth US$5.82 billion at list price, with all options exercised. A firm order for a further 20 aircraft followed in 2022, valued at US$1.56 billion.
Currently, the airline operates 29 aircraft focusing on eastern Canada and northeastern US. As of Feb. 7, Porter will fly from Toronto Pearson to Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax (Feb. 23).
The airline also has plans for daily flights to Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton from Pearson as of mid-February.
Porter’s flights out of Ottawa International Airport will also be expanding as the airline announced new routes to New York City, Boston, Quebec City and Thunder Bay as of March 26.
“It was a natural extension of our existing business and one that is really focused on providing the best economy product in the market,” said Michael Deluce, chief executive officer of Porter, in a phone interview.
Early in December, the airline announced its economy-class offerings – making Porter the only airline to offer no middle seat for its economy passengers, said Deluce.
The chief executive also boasted of the free beer and wine options served in glassware and the soon-to-be-added free Wi-Fi and premium complimentary snacks.
He said that for the past 20 years, many of Canada’s airlines have been taking away items otherwise previously offered to economy passengers, and now with the entrance of ultra-low-cost carriers, there has been a “race to the bottom.”
“They’re not doing anything to make economy or travel more enjoyable,” he claims.
Now, Porter plans to enter the segment of the market it believes has been neglected to offer an “elevated economy experience” throughout Canada.
While the airline has announced a number of new destinations, especially in Western Canada, Deluce said that the announcements will not stop any time soon as the airline hopes to expand to all major destinations in Canada and the US by 2024.
In that time, the airline plans to take on 50 new aircraft to further expand routes and flight frequency with high-quality economy flights on a broader scale at a time when many other airlines have cut back.
“Our goal,” said Deluce, “is to actually make economy air travel enjoyable again.”