Here’s a piece form the Air Canada reply to Porter’s application to the USDOT that reveals just how little competition Porter will be subjected to:

Citing an improved ferry service to the island built last year, Jazz said last summer that it would re-launch an expanded service from the airport to Ottawa and Montreal. But the plans were put on hold after the port authority forced Jazz to sign a new commercial agreement, the details of which are protected by a confidentiality clause and have never been disclosed.

A source familiar with the ongoing litigation said the confidential document effectively limits Jazz to just six take-off and landing slots per day over a six-day week, or the equivalent of three round-trip flights per day.

 Moreover, the document prohibits Jazz from flying to destinations other than Montreal and Ottawa, the source said. By contrast, four-month-old Porter already operates 19 weekday round-trips from the airport to Ottawa and Montreal, another 12 round-trips on the weekends, and is planning to launch new routes this year into the United States.

From:, Chris Sorensen, "New Regional Porter Airlines Flying Solo," National Post, February 16, 2007,

retrieved at http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=bad82746-beba-4309-9344-7

Not very attractive for any competitor – if they are subject to the same restrictions. Porter gets 114 of the 120 available slots!

The available slots, too are based on a very old NEF Contour study – a new one, that actually uses Q400 noise data, may well reduce the number available.

Brian Iler, Chair, CommunityAIR