Why do they do these engine runups anyway? How long does it last?  Bryan Leblanc

Bryan:  The runups last a very long time.  Fifteen, twenty minutes-- I don't know, but it seems like an eternity when you are outside trying to enjoy the calm and beauty of nature. 

Sometimes there are more than one runup a day, I presume that is because they are working on different airplanes.  Porter seems to do the runups in the middle of the day.  Now weekends appear to be another favorite.  I expect they do it at those times because that is when the aircraft are not in use.

We have been told that these runups are part of the regular check-up and maintenance of the engines.   We have asked why they have to be done at the Island, in the middle of a residential community, and the answer is that the Island Airport is the home base of Porter and this is where the company's maintenance is done.

We understand that engines need maintenance, and we don't want an accident.  But all of these problems around noise and curfew violations underline the fundamental point that members of CommunityAIR have been making since before Porter started its service.  The Island is an inappropriate location for a major commercial airport. 

This airport is right in the middle of a densely populated community, adjacent to the city's most popular park, and smack dab in the middle of Toronto's most important and best used recreational resources--the Waterfront, Toronto Bay and Lake Ontario.  The noise, pollution and the traffic that the airport generates are incompatible with these land uses.  We should be building a city that values its quality of life not expanding airports in the downtown.

Porter may well be offering a wonderful service.  Many people seem to think so.  But the location for this service should be at Pearson.  Not the Island Airport.  Is that so terrible to ask?

Bill Freeman