Bob,

I'm sorry but I cannot agree with you. I am a mariner as well and spend quite a bit of time in and around Blockhouse Bay (adjacent to the runway) and have found it unbearable in the last two years regardless of how long the engines are blaring. When visiting Island Yacht Club this past summer around 5 or 6 PM there was a constant queue of Q-400's taking off from east to west. Sunset over the islands is now noisy and stressful time. The beautifully tranquil IYC lawn is now just protection from turbo-prop blasts.

I love the idea of Porter's customer service and I highly respect people's need to travel but short-haul flights are not the best use of available resources. There is no question that if instead Porter, TPA and we as a society decided to invest in a high-speed rail network we would all be better off. Imagine if only VIA could be as pleasant to ride as Porter is to fly?

Ian