I flew on Porter’s Embraer E2 from Western Canada!
Porter has made quite a name for themselves since launching in 2006, with their unique Dash
8 operation from Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport, and their elevated level of onboard service.
Up until a few months ago though, they’d been exclusively an Eastern Canadian sight.
Back in February, they became the first airline in North America to
fly the Embraer E195-E2. Since then, the E2 fleet has only continued to grow and
more destinations added, including my hometown of Calgary, Alberta.
Earlier this month, I needed to get myself to Halifax, and after flying the E2’s inaugural
flight from Toronto to Ottawa, I wanted to try out these new planes on a longer journey.
So, I found this pretty reasonably priced fare in PorterReserve, their premium product, thanks
to both a sale they had going on, and this $150 voucher they gave out on that inaugural flight.
Although it did mean an early wakeup for a 6:30AM flight to Toronto first,
these are pretty well timed for onward connections to the east coast.
I won’t lie though, the very presence of Porter in Calgary is still pretty
surreal to me. It’s something I’d been hoping for for years,
so actually being here flying them from home now is very cool.
Today’s E195-E2 was the newest one in Porter’s fleet at the time, having only flown a handful
of revenue flights before this, and registered as Charlie Golf Kilo Quebec Sierra. This plane
is the tenth E2 in the fleet, and was delivered to Porter at the end of May.
Even after half a year of seeing these around,
I can honestly say the novelty still hasn’t worn off. I just can’t get over that head-on
profile with those huge Pratt and Whitney GTFs being virtually the same size as the fuselage!
Now the other big reason I had for wanting to fly Porter on a longer flight, is because they have
some new onboard meals that are only offered on flights longer than 2 and a half hours.
Those meals are complimentary for PorterReserve too, so that,
plus the extra legroom was worth the extra cost since I was going to pay for both anyway. Since
there are two flights on this booking as well, the added cost of extra legroom seats do add up.
Besides, the E195-E2 being more regional jet sized,
I think a longer itinerary like this is a good test of its comfort.
[Gate announcement]
With that, boarding started,
with a slight correction from the gate agents saying rows 1 to 4 first.
However, we ended up waiting in the jetway for about 5 minutes since
catering showed up right as boarding was called.
I, however, was happy to wait as long as it meant those meals made it on!
My seat for this first leg is 4D, in the last row of PorterReserve.
As expected, there is plenty of space for me here,
in a very comfy 36” of pitch, plus the excellent view of the engine.
I’ll take a more in-depth look once we’re airborne,
but right away, waiting here was this nice card welcoming us on board. I think that’s
such a nice personal touch explaining what you can expect from the flight.
Boarding also finished up very quickly, and PorterReserve was looking a bit sparse.
About 30-40 people boarded, and out of 132 seats total, that’s not great,
but it might’ve just been a slower day.
Then again, Calgary to Toronto is a route with a LOT of competition these days,
with AC, WestJet, Flair, Lynx, and now Porter.
I really hope Porter can stick it out here,
especially since the onboard service is so compelling.
[PA]
Our departure time soon came and went and I was certainly
hoping those meals would be worth the wait.
Some more catering eventually showed up, and we were on our way about half an hour behind
schedule. Here’s our departure from Calgary, off of runway 35R.
Those Pratt and Whitney GTFs are impressively
quiet… almost too quiet for the aviation enthusiast part of me.
I do love the “whale noise” at low power settings though, not to mention the 777-esque appearance!
As promised beforehand, here’s a little tour of the seat.
At the top of the seat in front is this little card with detailed
instructions for connecting to the onboard wifi.
Below that is a sturdy, bi-fold tray table that’s actually at a good height.
Further down is the seatback pocket, which had this safety card for the Embraer E2,
The usual air sickness bag,
And Porter’s inflight magazine,
which is unfortunately a bit of a rarity among airlines these days.
It’s always a good read though, and even had a Calgary article in it too!
Between the seats are two universal power outlets, and on the sides, you’ll also find a coat hook.
The big advantage that Porter has over virtually every other Canadian airline
is the fact that they offer free wifi for everybody on board the E2s.
Connecting is pretty straightforward, and it’s even easier if you remember your VIPorter login
(which I admittedly don’t get to use that much). You do still have to watch an ad,
but it’s only one for the entire flight versus one every 30 minutes without logging in.
There’s also streaming based entertainment available, with a good selection of stuff to
watch. It’s not an exhaustive selection by any stretch, but you’re bound to find something.
Right after the seatbelt sign went off, the drink service started, and I had a cup of coffee.
PorterReserve passengers were also given one of these ginger
“wellness shots”. It was… not something I enjoyed.
I have noticed that Porter might be one of the only airlines that
actually offers a lid for their coffee. A pretty sensible choice!
Shortly after, the smart-looking meal box I’d been
wanting to try for a while appeared, with PorterReserve branding on it.
This is actually a really well-designed box, as ridiculous a phrase as that sounds,
and opens up to reveal Porter’s breakfast offering - a little tray of fruit, and a scone with an
actual glass jar of jam. That also came with this high-quality plastic cutlery in a fabric napkin.
Also in the box was this cardboard phone stand! I’ll try that out in a bit.
After that, our cabin crew came by with a selection of main courses,
and I had this smoked salmon croissant.
I think this is one of the better breakfast offerings out there among Canadian airlines,
although the portion size for that main course is a bit small.
Just based on the outline there, I think lunch and dinner portions might be bigger.
The fruit tasted pretty fresh, and so did the salmon!
The real highlight for me though was that scone and jam - it genuinely was delicious!
Overall, a very, very solid breakfast! I think I still have to try out one of the
meals on another flight sometime, but this was still impressive!
The meals are free for PorterReserve like I said, and are available as buy-on-board for
PorterClassic, but on today’s flight they were offering the entrees to everybody for free.
This device stand they gave out in the meal box works pretty well with phones,
although it might struggle with tablets. I still think that’s a very nice touch.
There are two lavatories on board the E2s, with one in the front, and one in the back galley.
The one in the back does not have a ton of headroom, nor does the one in the front,
for that matter, but this one is pretty roomy and looks nice and new.
Like I said before, Porter has 132 seats on their E195-E2s.
Most of these are standard Economy, or what Porter calls “PorterClassic”,
at a fairly tight 30” of pitch.
Further up though, they do have a few extra legroom seats,
which they call “PorterClassic Stretch” seats, with a more comfortable 34” of pitch.
I would’ve gone for those seats originally, but when I priced it out,
by the time I added the extra legroom seats for the two flights plus however
much a meal would’ve been, it was pretty close to PorterReserve anyway.
As you can see though, this was quite an empty flight. Like I said,
Calgary to Toronto is a bit of a battleground at the moment,
and I can see it being tricky to compete when there are so many flights a day already.
The thing is, I’ve heard Porter’s advertising is
basically everywhere in Toronto, even on the Union Pearson Express.
However, I don’t see much of it on the Calgary end besides online ads,
which are probably heavily skewed in my favour anyway.
For just two flights a day though I guess it might not be worth more investment.
Maybe it is just Western Canadians or Calgarians specifically, not being aware
that this is an option now, and quite a good one. I certainly hope Porter sticks around in Calgary!
About an hour before landing, a basket of snacks came around for PorterReserve,
and I went for this shortbread cookie. Another drink service soon followed and I asked for
some apple juice. Although the glasses are supposedly just for alcoholic beverages,
you can ask for one if you really want!
For the rest of the flight, I relaxed and enjoyed the
extra space before we eventually began our descent into Toronto.
The thing is, because of the catering delay in Calgary,
what was already kind of a short connection got even shorter,
and we were still on approach when boarding for the next flight to Halifax started.
I flashed back to my time misconnecting on Porter
on the Dash 8s across Canada trip so I knew I was gonna have to be quick.
Here’s the arrival into a hazy Toronto Pearson Airport, landing on runway 05.
Fortunately, the situation was not nearly as dire as I thought,
seeing as we parked right next to the Halifax flight!
This next flight would be on board the first of Porter’s E2s, delivered to them in late December,
and registered as Charlie Golf Kilo Quebec Juliet. By extension, this was also the first
E2 registered in Canada - a very nice bonus for a nerd like me who cares about that sort of thing!
Although I’m super glad I don’t have to sprint to the terminal 3 satellite or something like that,
it’s always those few minutes before the door opens that feel the longest.
Sure enough, I was one of the last couple of people through the gate here. Although I’m
all for a quick, efficient connection like this, it can be a bit stressful.
That being said, I’d personally prefer this to a poorly-timed connection with
a few unnecessary hours in Toronto that just takes up more of the day.
I stepped on board and settled in my seat for the next hour and a bit, 1A.
I wanted to try a bulkhead seat just for comparison’s sake,
and there’s still plenty of room here, plus a good view of the plane I was on 5 minutes ago!
Thanks to the wide Embraer windows,
it is also possible to get an engine view from here, but just barely.
The doors soon closed on quite possibly the shortest successful connection I’ve ever had,
and here’s the next departure off of runway 06L.
This second leg from Toronto to Halifax takes about an hour and a half,
almost a full hour shorter than what I put myself through last year!
The bulkhead row is not too different from the other PorterReserve seats,
and still had the usual greeting card and seatback pocket contents. Unfortunately there’d be no meal
on this flight since the E2 is quite a bit faster. That’s… probably for the best though!
What is different about the seat are the fixed armrests, where you’ll find the tray tables.
These fold out across your lap and can slide. They’re not quite as sturdy as the normal ones,
but they do the job. The only other difference here as far as I can tell
is that the power outlets are underneath the seats instead.
The crew soon came by with the basket of snacks,
and as much as I love those shortbread cookies, I grabbed this bag of snack
mix. That was followed up by the usual cup of Coke, in this compostable cup.
Later on, those of us in PorterReserve were asked if we’d like anything else,
and I got my shortbread cookie fix after all.
Unlike the previous flight, this one looked close to full, and all 16 PorterReserve seats
were booked. I think that just goes to show the brand recognition that’s there for Porter
in the east… and possibly the reduced number of options for Eastern Canadians.
That all being said, I’m glad I finally had the chance to
give “medium-haul” Porter a proper try. From the passenger perspective,
they are a genuinely enjoyable experience, and I do want to see them succeed out west.
On both flights, the onboard service really stood out. I like Porter’s extra
detail of bringing stuff on trays and in baskets, it just feels more personal and
Porter’s crews deserve a lot of credit for making you feel welcome on board.
I will say, too, the E2 does actually hold up on these longer flights. I think it’s the fact the
seats are wide enough that you don’t necessarily feel cramped, plus the bigger Embraer windows.
There’s a lot to like with Porter, and just something inherently exciting
about bringing a better passenger experience to more of the country.
Besides, if anything, Porter has definitely kept other airlines on their toes,
with Air Canada announcing their own changes to their wifi and improvements
to their regional jet fleet, no doubt in response to Porter.
It’s competition like this that’s super beneficial for Canadian travellers,
although ultimately you can only fit so many airlines in this country of ours.
I do hope to see more of Porter in the coming years, and with their recent news of expanding
to Winnipeg and St. John’s with the E2s, plus rumours of Victoria and Kelowna, I’m sure we will.
Thank you so much for watching this almost cross-country journey with Porter,
and I’ll see you next time.