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You really found it more cramped than a regional jet? The Q has straighter walls which should give you more shoulder room and hence more space than a RJ. They aren't roomier than an AC E175 or E190 but they shouldn't be as cramped as a CRJ either.
 
BermudaTO37 said:
Fun stuff this morning on my return flight to Toronto. We were on the runway in Montreal (YUL) and then started our take off roll. Then all of a sudden as we were roaring down the runway, they reversed thrust and stopped the plane quickly. We were all a bit stunned by what had taken place. We exited the runway and they came on over the public announcement system and said that runway safety could not be guaranteed and that was why we stopped. So, for the shortest while we were on the taxiway and then I looked out the window to see an Air Creebec Dash 8 taxiing up the runway we were just roaring down. So, now I know what was meant. Everyone assumed that there was something wrong with the plane. Anyhow, good times for all. That was a first for me and I fly once to twice monthly.
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Wow. You just witnessed a runway incursion first hand. It's a huge cause of aviation accidents and incidents. You can bet Transport Canada will be all over this one.
 
kEiThZ said:
You really found it more cramped than a regional jet? The Q has straighter walls which should give you more shoulder room and hence more space than a RJ. They aren't roomier than an AC E175 or E190 but they shouldn't be as cramped as a CRJ either.
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Right on all counts...but, for some reason, I do feel more crammed in when I get a window seat on the Q...not sure why but I do....fortunately most times I have flown Porter (relative small sample size of 6 flights) there has been enough empty seats to have two to myself but I definitely avoid the window seats now!
 
kEiThZ said:
You really found it more cramped than a regional jet? The Q has straighter walls which should give you more shoulder room and hence more space than a RJ. They aren't roomier than an AC E175 or E190 but they shouldn't be as cramped as a CRJ either.
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I guess I should have been more clear. The shoulder room is fine. It more so has to so with the leg room. Not for stretching out but to sit there when someone is beside you, I find that the leg room for how I normally sit (legs not wide open but somewhat open), when you are against the window, I have to sit on an angle. I found this the same on the RJ. It is not exactly the same but somewhat of a discomfort because to sit there, you would have to legs together and stretched out under the seat in front.

I know for the future that I will not sit in the window because I want a bit more flexibility. Now don't take that as a complaint about the service or the airline, I have nothing but praise for them.
 
The new terminal will be opening for business on March 7th. I went over to the opening ceremony this morning and took the tour -- it is very nice and will be quite comfortable for passengers.

Porter unveils new terminal

Currently there will be a combined US-Canada departure lounge (similar to the current one, but a bit larger) and there are not any stores. There are separate US and Canada arrivals baggage areas.

A separate US departure area (along with preclearance) and retail shops are planned for Phase II in the fall.
 
I read the article in today's Star about the new Island terminal that will have custom clearance to fly into some American airports such as Ronald Reagan Airport and New York Cities LaGuardia Airport, it is getting more American destinations. The Island Airport is also getting a lot of passenger using that terminal that I hope that the government reconsiders funding the Island tunnel they floated about last year. It would help a lot of people using the Island airport as well as people using the island itself.
 
haha it's so funny to see some of my friends/old co-workers in those pictures. I'm so glad to see an actual baggage belt too.

The terminal is only a few months late. It was originally supposed to open in time for x-mas, then it was pushed back to January, then February (in fact as of last week my friends who work there thought the opening day was this week), now March. I know there were a few functional design issues and perhaps those are being addressed and that's what accounts for this delay.
 
How will they handle AC passengers? Will Jazz passengers have access to all the Porter amenities too? I'd think that's unfair.
 
There is only one waiting room (eventually there will be two -- Canada and US) so everyone will have the same amenities. I suppose City Centre Terminal Corp could include the food and drink restocking charges into Air Canada's (and Porter's) rent and simply make it part of the service offered to the tenants.

Robert Deluce was out in Atlantic Canada this week and has said that they are looking at possible Atlantic Canada expansion, perhaps Saint John, Fredericton and/or Moncton, including service to the US from Atlantic Canada. He also said that they are looking at a follow-on order for additional aircraft, after they receive the last 2 Q400s in late April.

New Brunswick Business Journal

Chronicle Herald
 
^ Like I said before, they are chasing Jazz not AC. So expansion into Atlantic Canada and a new hub at Halifax would make perfect sense. And if they do it right, passengers won't even mind transferring in Ottawa or Montreal to get to Halifax or elsewhere in Atlantic Canada. If the frequency is good, the transfers can be kept short. And with a Porter lounge in Ottawa, there's always a nice place to wait instead of hanging with the riff raff in the terminal.

They really do need to open Porter lounges in Montreal and Halifax though.
 
They are beginning to compete with Air Canada in the larger sense, now that they can offer connecting service to more distant destinations, including the US. Air Canada is the one that chooses the routes for Jazz and they primarily focus on feeding people into Toronto, Montreal and Halifax to put them on larger AC planes to other places.

Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton all have around 3 flights a day to Montreal, Halifax and Toronto. A good place for Porter to start would be offering services to other places not currently directly served such as Ottawa, Boston, Newark. The Q400 should be able to reach Chicago, but that would start to be a bit of a long flight (tying up the plane for a long time). The ability to fill planes to Ottawa could be improved by adding non-stop service from there to the US.

If Porter entered into a code-share agreement with a US airline, then flights to the US could be filled with connecting traffic.

EDIT: theairdb.com is reporting that Porter will soon be offering Quebec-Montreal service.

EDIT: I wonder if they start flying from multiple Canadian cities, will they press for Canada to open Canadian pre-clearance in US cities like Boston, New York and/or Chicago? With preclearance, they could do BOS-YSJ-YFC without having to let everyone out of the plane in YSJ to run them through customs.
 
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sjc said:
I wonder if they start flying from multiple Canadian cities, will they press for Canada to open Canadian pre-clearance in US cities like Boston, New York and/or Chicago? With preclearance, they could do BOS-YSJ-YFC without having to let everyone out of the plane in YSJ to run them through customs.
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It would probably make more sense to do Moncton, then, since I believe they're the only airport in NB to have 24-hour border agents.

Also, wishful thinking for me to have more options to visit my family. A link from downtown TO to YQM would be amazing!
 
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