robmausser
Senior Member
They dont own Billy anymore they sold it off to a third party, who then f*$*ed them over during the pandemic.
Toronto Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | ?m | ?s | Ports Toronto | Arup
SubHuman
Active Member
It was the owners of the terminal, "Nieuport Aviation" (Kilmer Group, etc.), who were lobbying the City, not Porter.
Sooo, some interesting news here from Matt Elliott's City Hall Watcher, and Lobbyist Watch.
I want to note that Matt has taken down the paywall for the current issue, which I will link to below.
I will pitch that anyone deeply interesting in the City's internal workings should follow the link; and consider subscribing.
That said.........
*****
Nieuport Aviation who own the terminal (but lease the land it sits on) have begun to lobby the City in earnest.
They have lobbied on more than one subject recently.
The had meeting w/senior staff in the Mayor's office on “works with the City to be a good neighbour and community asset while contributing to the mitigation of impacts from airport operation.”
But they also hired a lobbyist to discuss: “Toronto Islands park expansion and decisions around land use for Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport” with a wish for “collaboration on decisions around park and open spaces.”
On top of that, there is lobbying concerning a proposed pre-clearance customs facility at the airport............which according Matt may be about who should incur the cost for the associated construction.
Link to the entire issue below:
Summertime, and the lobbying is easy
City Hall Watcher #130: A special FREE milestone issue, with a brand new LOBBYIST WATCH featuring Airbnb, the island airport, Presto competitors & more!graphicmatt.substack.com
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smallspy
Senior Member
An aside..... I've been on two late Porter flights, and both times we detoured to YYZ, not YHM. Granted, both of these occasions were many years ago.
I was under the understanding that they were still using YYZ and the detouring airport - are they not anymore?
In fairness.......it sounds like there was enough going on with both sides that they were each f***ing each other over.
Dan
christiesplits
Senior Member
I know Porter was regularly detouring to YHM until at least the spring of 2019.
Just search "Hamilton" and "@porterairlines" on Twitter and you get a lot of tweets from very angry travelers.
robmausser
Senior Member
Im talking about this
Porter Airlines has been threatening to leave Island airport in Toronto
It's possible that Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto could lose its most iconic airline as reports surfaced about a legal battle between Porter Airli...
www.blogto.com
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/IHZ7ETGXHNGPFOVID7NOXWTW6I.JPG)
Toronto Island airport terminal owner countersues Porter over unpaid slot fees
It alleges the carrier has wrongfully refused to pay fees during its pandemic-related shutdown
www.theglobeandmail.com
Porter Airlines sues Billy Bishop terminal owner over $45.3-million in fees for unused slots
The dispute highlights the travel industry’s COVID-19-related financial stress
www.theglobeandmail.com
smallspy
Senior Member
Yikes.
Both of my trips were well before 2019 - I think that the last time was 2016? - but either way, on both occasions Porter arranged for travel back to downtown Toronto for all passengers. Being left stranded in Hamilton, as much as I like the city, would be a major bummer to put it mildly.
Dan
innsertnamehere
Superstar
especially considering you'd be left, late at night, at Hamilton Airport, with no transit options to speak of. You'd be looking at a fleet of $100+ airport taxis running down the QEW to get people back to the city.
Porter did divert to Hamilton for a while but I'm fairly certain they always provided a shuttle into Toronto when it did occur. Even with that situation though, it sucks.
robmausser
Senior Member
I believe Porter sent its own fleet of buses to pick people up in that case. They have a fleet of airport shuttle buses
smallspy
Senior Member
They didn't when we landed at YYZ.
They used chartered highway coaches, and drove them to meet the planes at the General Aviation terminals at the north end.
Dan
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Detouring to Hamilton wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the absolute desert of transit options from YHM to Downtown Toronto (DT being a significant destination for Porter travelers). This would have been a perfect opportunity (pre covid) for Porter to approach GO transit and ask for a route serving YHM, with Porter possibly providing for some subsidy for the route to cover GO's costs.
ShonTron
Moderator
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But Porter detouring to Hamilton is only done late at night, or if weather conditions require it. Why would Porter subsidize such a route when their requirements are only for occasional, unplanned diversions?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Honestly if passenger service out of YHM continues the growth trajectory it was on pre-covid I wouldn't be surprised if GO offers a connection soon anyway. It was posting 30% annual growth rates prior to the pandemic. Swoop and Flair were becoming huge draws for people in the GTA to go there instead.
SubHuman
Active Member
With PortsToronto looking for private investors to keep airport operations afloat, and their lease on the airport lands expiring in 2033, article asks if Island Airport is as important to the area's economy as some claim.
nowtoronto.com
Is there a park in Toronto Island airport's future? - NOW Toronto
The pandemic has brought into sharper focus questions about climate change and the shortage of green space in the downtown core
nowtoronto.com
C
christiesplits
Guest
Surprised to see Porter proposing flights to Nashville and Denver. AC already serves those cities. Would there be enough demand?
This reminds me of Porter’s very short lived service to Pittsburgh and Charleston.
This reminds me of Porter’s very short lived service to Pittsburgh and Charleston.
robmausser
Senior Member
As I suspected: dont get confused on their site. Those flights are actually offered by JetBlue. Its a bit of a scam...ish.
Porter offers a bunch of flights on their site to places they dont actually fly. Its an agreement with JetBlue. Porter dumps you off in Boston and then JetBlue takes you to those destinations. They arent new flights its just a connection to JetBlues existing services.