By Bob Kotyk

As if the recent increase in noise at the island airport isn’t bad enough, it appears that the Toronto Port Authority, the airport’s operators, are willing to let its No. 1 tenant, Porter Airlines, break the airport’s 23:00 (11 p.m.) curfew on a regular basis.

According to an agreement signed by the port authority, Transport Canada (their political masters) and the City of Toronto, take offs and landings at the Island Airport must cease operations at 23:00.  The port authority’s own website shows that the airport closes even earlier at 22:45 (10:45 p.m.) http://torontoport.com/PortAuthority/airport_pilot_info.asp?id=20. 

So why are planes landing after 23:00 and what is being done about it?

The after-hour landings can be attributed largely to Porter Airlines.  Ever since the company started flying from Newark, New Jersey to the island airport, its planes have been arriving late, well beyond the scheduled landing time and beyond the airport curfew hour.

Porter’s flight POE 132 is the main culprit.  According to the airline’s schedule, the flight is supposed to take off from Newark’s Liberty International Airport at 20:45 (8:45 p.m.) and hit the island airport’s runway at 22:15 (10:15) an hour and a half later. 

The problem is that POE 132 doesn’t always take off at 20:45.  Delays at Newark often hold it on the runway past the scheduled takeoff time.  A real time flight tracking website, http://www.flightstats.com, shows that fewer than 50% of the flights have left on time ever since POE 132’s inception on April 1, 2008. 

The late takeoffs have resulted in at least eight landings after 23:00 and these curfew violations appear set to increase.  According to a U.S. Federal Aviation Authority Directive, Porter is required to move its 20:45 p.m. flight out of Newark even later to 21:30 (9:30 p.m.) by the end of this month.

Porter itself, in arguing against the directive stated, “…the 21:30 departure allocated by the FAA for this one and a half hour flight will not permit Porter to comply with the 23:00 curfew in effect at the Toronto City Centre Airport … .”

Porter’s submission may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/search/search_results.jsp?css=0&N=0&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchall&Ne
=2+8+11+8053+8054+8098+8074+8066+8084+8055&Ntt=FAA-2008-0221-0084.1%20&sid=11A9E4FC75EB.

So, according to Porter’s observation, may we conclude more planes are likely to land after curfew?  If so, what will be done about it?

The answer is probably nothing unless Transport Canada or the City of Toronto take action.  The first curfew violation was entered on the port authority’s complaint form website www.torontoport.com/Airport_Cform.asp on May 26.  The complainant has yet to hear from the port authority on what action the port authority took. 

If the port authority has taken any action, it has been totally ineffective.  Porter aircraft have violated the curfew six times since May 26 and they have done so with impunity and with the port authority’s implicit approval.  If nothing is done the violations will continue.