"as we have now turned off the active runway
passengers wishing to use their cellular devices may now do so."
Good morning and welcome back to another video. Today we're going to be flying with
Porter Airlines, a regional airline based out of downtown Toronto at the city centre airport and
we'll be heading up to Thunder Bay, Ontario on the west side of the province. Porter Airlines
started back in 2006, 16 years ago and during the pandemic they took a step of just shutting down
entirely all their flights and they remained out of operation for I think it was 18 months and only
started back up again in September 2021 and right now it's the end of July so just about 11 months
ago not even a year. My flight's at 10:45 and me with my infinite wisdom I decided to book a ticket
on a Sunday morning which means all the buses are on Sunday schedule plus Caribana (festival) is
going on downtown so there's a bunch of street closures but nonetheless it's a lovely summer's
day here in Toronto so come along let's head up to Thunder Bay as we go from A to B.
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Our early morning starts in the neighbouring city of Mississauga the same city where YYZ is located.
For me flying out of Toronto City Centre takes a bit more planning
as it's a bit out of the way or as they say in Japanese 'mendoukusai'.
So I rarely make my way down here but it's fun to change things up once in a while
my bus came right on time unless we start our 55-minute journey to downtown Toronto.
We arrive at the new Union Station bus terminal. Porter has a free shuttle that
takes you to the ferry. Did I mentioned the airports on an island? It departs from the
west side of the Royal York Hotel. You just got to follow the signs to Front Street.
Downtown has a large underground walking system known as 'PATH' which connects many
of the buildings useful for those chilly winter days also useful for getting lost.
Passing by the main hall of Union Station means we're on the right track!
So if you do this right you'll get off on Front Street and then
on the west side of the Royal York should be the bus.
From here there's two ways to reach the airport. When it's running you can take
the world's shortest ferry ride, not kidding, or The pedestrian tunnel.
The small airport is named after Billy Bishop, attributed as the best fighter
pilot in the British Empire during the first world war and the airport does a pleasant job
of highlighting his achievements. While on the topic of history ,during World War II
the airport hosted a training facility for Norway and was referred to as Little Norway.
With the history behind us, the small check-in area is used primarily by
Porter with a few kiosks for Air Canada for their flight to Montreal.
The small terminal has a nice variety of seating options in
the centre and a few restaurants off to one side.
You won't find any gates in the traditional sense. The announcement will tell passengers which door
to go through and you can see the podium for each flight is located beyond the first set of sliding
doors. All right so you can really see the benefit of the downtown Island Airport if you're staying
downtown or if you live in Toronto. I mean it's really quick to get to. It's a smaller airport
so the security lines are... smaller (duh!) and they have a nice little lounge/ gate side here.
I haven't been here for maybe 10 years and back then Porter had their lounge thing down here but
that's gone they put in the restaurants and all this nice seating and all that stuff.
So I mean if you're flying to let's say Montreal, New York, or Boston, Chicago, for you know a
weekend or something like that I mean it kind of makes sense to come down here. Now, granted
there's also the UP Express which goes to Pearson but that didn't exist when Porter started flying
in 2006 but nonetheless it's just another option for consumers to choose when they're flying and
it's a nice place to drop by for a flight. Anyway 9:30 now, we don't board for another 40 minutes,
I just grabbed a coffee and just hang it over here hanging out over here and just watching the TV.
Right, it's time to board! If there's one critique of Porter it's their tiered pricing plan. I find
it a bit too much like an ultra low-cost carrier. On one end there's 'basic' which doesn't even
permit a carry-on bag, besides a personal sized item and your boarding pass must be retrieved
at the checking counter. On the other end is freedom which gives passengers the most choice.
I went with the standard category which allows for the carry-on baggage but seat selection came out
of fee even at check in. and on a Q400 I don't see the $23 value to change from my pre-assigned seat
so for this flight we're in 17b which makes filming outside a little well...mendokusai.
Currently, Porter has 29 aircraft and they're all Q400 fleet. Each
has 78 seats on board with one lavatory located at the front.
I had a wonderful seat neighbour who I chatted with for the duration of the flight and I was
able to catch some nice views of the city soon after takeoff and hey! even the dome was open!
Our two-hour flight would take us Northwest over the lakes to the west side of Lake Superior.
Porter's q400 aircraft have a single cabin in a 2-2 seating layout with beige seats complemented
with grey tables, antimacassars, and arm rests. I find the overhead bins a bit tight for my 30
litre bag on these Q400s and generally I have to remove some items to make it fit comfortably.
The seats are basic and you can see the utilitarian design of the seat.
Seatback is equivalently simple consisting of a small table and pocket beneath. With a seat pitch
of 30 inches, and the seat's minimalistic design I'd say it feels roomier compared to a regular
seat with an equivalent pitch. The tray table is quite small able to comfortably fit a tablet
but maybe not a laptop. There is no Ife on board. so to keep passengers in the aisle seats occupied
there's Porters in Flight magazine where you can read up on their upcoming new Embraer aircraft.
And here's a quick look at Porter's destinations and you can see Thunder Bay is as far west as you
can get with this Airline and they generally focus in the northeast of North America.
And like many other Dash eights there's a reading light and air control above.
Keep in mind there's no power outlets, USB ports, or Wi-Fi
so be sure to charge your phone and camera in the terminal if you intend on making any
wacky flight reviews or to watch some videos. And of course I always welcome
new viewers to subscribe for wacky flight reviews and other travel related content.
In fact, why not leave a comment and let us know where you're watching from!
One aspect that separates Porter from other carriers in North America is our complimentary
snack and drink and this was a pillar of their service ever since they started flying.
They feature local products and I went with chips and this lug Tread IPA.
So cheers heading up north to see some great friends who I haven't seen for three years!
And here's a look at the lavatory at the front of the aircraft and you can see at
some point they removed the Waterworks and replaced it with the hand sanitizer.
And two hours later we made it to Thunder Bay. I went to University in this city and
done this route dozens of times over the years so I was happy to do it again and
to bring you along with me. The cost for this one-way standard ticket came to 157 dollars.
All right so we made it to Thunder Bay and that's Porter Airlines Regional flight and
overall it was a nice smooth flight across the province. it's nice clear day for most
of it it got a little bit overcast after getting to Lake Superior but uh
nice flight and I believe they're the only Airline - at least the only airline
that I know of - in Canada to provide you with a complimentary alcoholic beverage
during the flight and they did that ever since ever since the start and I'm glad they continue
that after the pandemic and even though there's no seatback entertainment or anything like that
I was able to talk with my my neighbor and have a nice chat for for an hour and a half and you
know sometimes that just makes a flight all that much better let me know what you thought about
Porter Airlines Regional flight thanks for watching and I'll see you around next time!