Porter Load Factor Flyin High

[quickflight]

Porter Airlines says traffic takes offPublished 23 minutes agoEmail PrintRepublishAdd to Favourites Report an errorShare Share ArticleMore about
Porter Airlines»
Dana Flavelle
Business Reporter Porter Airlines is not ruling out another attempt at issuing shares to the public, but says that decision won’t be made until early next year and it’s not the only way to raise money.

The company’s president and chief executive officer, Robert Deluce, made the comments after the airline made public monthly traffic figures showing its business soared in recent months.

The country’s third largest airline said its “load factor” – a key measure of the number of seats filled on flights – rose 11.4 points to 63.9 per cent in August, compared to a year earlier.

The figure is still well below those reported by far larger rivals, Air Canada and West Jet, but Deluce said in an interview that Porter’s “break-even” level is also much lower, so it is making money.

The privately held company said it will release monthly traffic statistics on a regular basis, a practice followed by larger publicly traded airlines.

The decision raises questions about whether Porter plans to resume its efforts to issue shares to the public. Porter deferred plans last June for an initial public offering, citing increased volatility in equity markets.

“In terms of us beginning to release regular monthly traffic reports it’s in an effort to inform interested parties in Porter’s growth and progress,” Deluce said. “It’s a natural continuation of the story we told as part of the IPO process last spring.”

Deluce did not rule out the possibility of revisiting an IPO in the future, but said it would be just one option the airline might consider. He said the decision will not be made until early next year.

“We’re well positioned to wait until equity markets stabilize to decide whether we seek a new public offer or some alternate form of financing. I think we’ll make that call sometime in early 2011,” he said.

The airline, which operates 20 aircraft, has big expansion plans. It ordered 10 more aircraft from Bombardier in August, Deluce said.

But it will also soon face competition for the first time on its home turf, as Air Canada and Continental Airlines have both won approval to fly from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands. No launch date has been set.

The increase in Porter’s “load factor” in August came alongside a sharp 69 per cent rise in the number of “available seat miles,” a measure of capacity, to 99.7 million. It said revenue passenger miles jumped 105 per cent to 63.7 million that month.

The four-year-old airline said it also enjoyed record increases in traffic the previous four months, compared to the year earlier period.

Porter is clearly benefitting from a global increase in airline traffic, and an uptick in business travel, the premium end of the market, said Robert Kokonis, president and managing director of Toronto-based aviation consulting firm, AirTrav Inc.

“Traffic has been increasing globally since December of last year, including in Canada,” said Kokonis. “We also know average revenue yields and premium business traffic has been returning in a very healthy way since the middle of the first quarter.

“I would surmise in Porter’s case, while they’re not at the levels of Air Canada or WestJet, a strengthening business market and a higher load factor I’m sure are relatively good news.”

Air Canada reported earlier that its load factor for August was a record 86.8 per cent, the same level as a year earlier, as a 7 per cent increase in available seat miles was matched by a 7.1 per cent rise in traffic.

WestJet’s load factor slipped 2.3 percentage points to 82.2 per cent for the same month as traffic grew 8.2 per cent but capacity grew 11.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, Porter opened its second passenger lounge at the island airport on Sunday. The new lounge supports increasing passenger numbers as part of a $49-million terminal development project.

[mattedfred]

Perhaps JALP should;

offer to purchase PAH,

then offer to lease terminal and gate space etc to AC (Sky Regional) and CO,

and offer to lease the Q400's to AC (Sky Regional)?

[aileron]

Perhaps JALP should;

offer to purchase PAH,

then offer to lease terminal and gate space etc to AC (Sky Regional) and CO,

and offer to lease the Q400's to AC (Sky Regional)?

Wow, that's some creative writing; lol!

[Valhalla]

Standing by for an essay by Realitychex...

[mattedfred]

doubtful in the short term

RB does not make it his practice to run airlines into the ground

he sells his airlines to others for a nice profit so they can do that for him

PAH is sitting pretty as they have created a demand for competition

the revenue from leasing terminal and gate space etc to AC and CO will be sweet

do some reading on raccoons and you will soon realize that the PD mascot was chosen very carefully

[canuckjetsetter]

Standing by for an essay by Realitychex...

Good to hear PD's numbers are on the rise. Congrats to RD and the PD team!

I wonder how their numbers are going to look for the usual slow season (Sep-Nov). Unlike most carriers who see a drop in traffic, I imagine that with everyone back on Bay St. after summer holidays PD will buck the trend and continue to see dramatic increases for the rest of the year.

[quickflight]

Valhalla... stop it... my sides.

[sanjet]

doubtful in the short term

RB does not make it his practice to run airlines into the ground
he sells his airlines to others for a nice profit so they can do that for him
do some reading on raccoons and you will soon realize that the PD mascot was chosen very carefully

HA, you guys will just never be satisfied with any news from Porter... Good from Porter, keep up the good news.
Unlike C3, looks like those monthly statistics will only mean IPO one day.

[Dim]

What happened to the YUL-YHZ service? I was using that all the time.

[mattedfred]

doubtful in the short term

RB does not make it his practice to run airlines into the ground
he sells his airlines to others for a nice profit so they can do that for him
do some reading on raccoons and you will soon realize that the PD mascot was chosen very carefully

HA, you guys will just never be satisfied with any news from Porter... Good from Porter, keep up the good news.
Unlike C3, looks like those monthly statistics will only mean IPO one day.

my response was to a post right above mine which stated that "porter is f$%t"

the post had since disappeared

i don't think PAH is f$%t at all

[quickflight]

YUL YHZ is 3 times a week probably til Christmas, or maybe the summer sched. It was primarily leisure travel and we are coming into our business season. Expect it to become permanent maybe sometime next year as more birds come on line.

[Valhalla]

my response was to a post right above mine which stated that "porter is f$%t"

the post had since disappeared

For the record, I saw that too...

[aileron]

my response was to a post right above mine which stated that "porter is f$%t"

the post had since disappeared

For the record, I saw that too...

Same here.... LisaS, care to elaborate?

[Troubleshot]

I will elaborate. LisaS is WestJet employee....I could stop there and most members here would understand what I am getting at, but I will go even further. Some WestJetter's here would love nothing more to see Porter fail...plain and simple. The extreme kool-aid drinkers would not only like to see Porter fail but publicly trash the company at any opportunity and then quickly tell you how good WestJet is doing in the same breath, we see it time and time again here.

The facts are out there, WestJet is losing market share in the east and Porter is starting to establish itself as a real player. Some will say that this only one good quarter for Porter but hey, cracking "the Triangle" after only 4 years of operation is job well done no matter how you look at it. Not to mention forging into the Maritimes with success.

The comment by LisaS reminds me of proving a 10 year old brat wrong, then watch them cross their arms, stomp their foot and storm off....pretty laughable really.

Congrats to Porter, keep up the good work.

[Legacy]

OMG Troubleshot grow up

[Valhalla]

Allright... I'm getting really tired of every thread about Porter turning into a mud slinging fight.

[Mclovin]

Allright... I'm getting really tired of every thread about Porter turning into a mud slinging fight.

Hey you think this is bad, take a look at most jazz threads.

[stupido]

Hey Mclovin.....I like your voice.....

[CanadaEH]

I will elaborate. LisaS is WestJet employee....I could stop there and most members here would understand what I am getting at, but I will go even further. Some WestJetter's here would love nothing more to see Porter fail...plain and simple. The extreme kool-aid drinkers would not only like to see Porter fail but publicly trash the company at any opportunity and then quickly tell you how good WestJet is doing in the same breath, we see it time and time again here.

The facts are out there, WestJet is losing market share in the east and Porter is starting to establish itself as a real player. Some will say that this only one good quarter for Porter but hey, cracking "the Triangle" after only 4 years of operation is job well done no matter how you look at it. Not to mention forging into the Maritimes with success.

The comment by LisaS reminds me of proving a 10 year old brat wrong, then watch them cross their arms, stomp their foot and storm off....pretty laughable really.

Congrats to Porter, keep up the good work.

I think the idea that "some" Westjetters want to see Porter fail is ridiculous. Nobody wants to see Porter fail. I know I certainly don't. What I do hope for is that Porter becomes profitable and sustainable, long-term. Sounds crazy coming from a "Westjetter", doesn't it?

The truth is that Deluce talked up Porter to be a profitable airline - for 4 years! - when it wasn't. When the prospectus came out it confirmed what a lot of people already believed - that Porter wasn't making money. If the investors of Porter are willing to stick it out for 10 more years of money losing quarters, that's their choice. If in 10 years from now Porter is making money, I would consider that a success. In the meantime, Porter isn't making money and I think that's bad for the industry as a whole.

[Valhalla]

I think the idea that "some" Westjetters want to see Porter fail is ridiculous. Nobody wants to see Porter fail. I know I certainly don't. What I do hope for is that Porter becomes profitable and sustainable, long-term. Sounds crazy coming from a "Westjetter", doesn't it?

Thank you for the well wishes. I do believe that the vast majority of Westjetters want nothing but the best for their fellow pilots at Porter. My primary reason for working at all, as I'm sure yours is as well, is to provide a roof and food on the table for my family. Nobody wants airline failures. Not even LisaS or Realitychex, I'm sure...

The truth is that Deluce talked up Porter to be a profitable airline - for 4 years! - when it wasn't.

I challenge you to find one quote where Deluce talked up Porter to be making a profit for the last 4 years. He has certainly painted a rosy picture, but he has never explicitly said Porter was profitable for the last 4 years. Porter is a startup that just last week opened phase 2 of the terminal, which finally after 4 years, completes the initial vision of the company. Now, we will see what happens...

When Porter started, there was literally no infrastructure at the Island Airport younger than my Dad. The airport has now been completely renovated, with Porter footing the bill for the terminal, a new ILS, a fuel farm, new apron, de-ice trucks, etc.

If the investors of Porter are willing to stick it out for 10 more years of money losing quarters, that's their choice. If in 10 years from now Porter is making money, I would consider that a success.

Well, the investors just poured a bunch more money into Porter to facilitate the purchase of 10 more airplanes, so yes, they are willing to stick it out.

[bigskyjoc]

The truth is that Deluce talked up Porter to be a profitable airline - for 4 years! - when it wasn't.

I challenge you to find one quote where Deluce talked up Porter to be making a profit for the last 4 years. He has certainly painted a rosy picture, but he has never explicitly said Porter was profitable for the last 4 years. Porter is a startup that just last week opened phase 2 of the terminal, which finally after 4 years, completes the initial vision of the company. Now, we will see what happens...





Surely you are kidding, I hope. There are tons....

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... 608043e00b

[bigskyjoc]

http://www.thestar.com/business/compani ... ff-in-2010

[aileron]

Dear Sir:

As per:

...I challenge you to find one quote where Deluce talked up Porter to be making a profit for the last 4 years. He has certainly painted a rosy picture, but he has never explicitly said Porter was profitable for the last 4 years. Porter is a startup that just last week opened phase 2 of the terminal, which finally after 4 years, completes the initial vision of the company. Now, we will see what happens...

And your:

Surely you are kidding, I hope. There are tons....

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... 608043e00b

Each citation you'll ever dig up will only reference a snippet of a time period, and what Valhalla states is true, Deluce has never said we've been profitable for the whole of 4 years.

Your truly,

Aileron

[Valhalla]

Show me the quote where he said that there was a profit. Lots of interpretation... but where is the quote? Like I said, he paints a rosy picture...

Read your articles, bigskyjoc, then try again.

[CanadaEH]

Valhalla:

Deluce says airline `cash-flow positive' after five months
Mar 29, 2007 - Toronto Star

The founder of Porter Airlines is dismissing speculation the upstart regional carrier is doomed to follow in the footsteps of the former Jetsgo, CanJet and now Harmony Airways, saying the fledgling airline is quickly gaining financial altitude.

While Porter isn't required to reveal its financial health as a privately held company, CEO Robert Deluce suggested to a Bay Street audience yesterday that his airline, based at the Toronto Island airport, is already enjoying a positive cash flow barely five months after taking to the skies.

"For a little less than 60 days now, we've been cash-flow positive," Deluce said yesterday at a transportation and logistics conference hosted by National Bank Financial.

Porter to Get Plane Financing to Challenge Air Canada (Update1)
Posted 13 June 2007

Porter, which offer free newspapers, snacks and drinks at its Toronto boarding lounge and onboard, first turned a profit last month, and June is ``already looking substantially ahead of May,'' Deluce, 57, said in an interview at Toronto City Centre Airport, located on an island near the city's downtown.

Porter Airlines cruising to profit, it says
June 04 2008 - The Gazette

At a time when soaring oil prices are eroding North American carriers' earnings, Porter Airlines Inc. is expecting its first full-year profit this summer, CEO Robert Deluce said.

Porter Airlines to stay profitable in 2009
By Nicole Mordant and Susan Taylor, Reuters
September 21, 2009 1:02 PM

TORONTO -- Porter Airlines, a small Canadian regional carrier that has found a way to make money in hard times, expects to stay profitable this year and to keep expanding in 2010, its chief executive said on Monday.