PORTER buying more planes.

[MaximumSausage]

Just heard that Porter has bought 4 more planes with the option to buy 6 more. Is it true that Porter cancelled the last class of ground school for new hire pilots....or just another aviation rumour.

[industrypolice]

Wasnt Porter on the verge of bankruptcy? hence the need to go public. Or are they still on course for that after luring gullible investors?

[dcabrown]

The decision to become a public company doesnt mean a company is failing and on the contrary, it is usually the result of management needing access to more debt or equity capital beyond what they can access from the private ownership. Companies usually go public before they enter a period of growth which can not be financed through private or internal means. i.e. the banks wont lend them anymore money but they need to find funds to purchase aircraft for expansion...

What likely happened in the case of Porter's delayed IPO is that investors after seeing the full financial filings of the company wondered... what the heck? these guys can't make money when they have a monopoly, what will happen when they lose it!? That combined with uncertainty on the global economy resulted in little demand for the IPO. In otherwords, outside investors significant reduced their valuation of the company to the point where the current owners thought it to be a bad time to sale a stake in the company. You can ALWAYS get an IPO done, but it may not be at a price the current owners like....

[aileron]

Wasnt Porter on the verge of bankruptcy? hence the need to go public. Or are they still on course for that after luring gullible investors?

What is "gullible" is the hypothesis that Porter is on the verge of bankruptcy...

[dcabrown]

The decision to become a public company doesnt mean a company is failing and on the contrary, it is usually the result of management needing access to more debt or equity capital beyond what they can access from the private ownership. Companies usually go public before they enter a period of growth which can not be financed through private or internal means. i.e. the banks wont lend them anymore money but they need to find funds to purchase aircraft for expansion...

What likely happened in the case of Porter's delayed IPO is that investors after seeing the full financial filings of the company wondered... what the heck? these guys can't make money when they have a monopoly, what will happen when they lose it!? That combined with uncertainty on the global economy resulted in little demand for the IPO. In otherwords, outside investors significant reduced their valuation of the company to the point where the current owners thought it to be a bad time to sale a stake in the company. You can ALWAYS get an IPO done, but it may not be at a price the current owners like....

[MaximumSausage]

Before this thread goes off on a limb, Ill ask again. Did a ground school get cancelled at Porter in the last few months?

[aileron]

Before this thread goes off on a limb, Ill ask again. Did a ground school get cancelled at Porter in the last few months?

Yes, and no. Next class in September; congratulations to those who were recently hired.

[MaximumSausage]

Thanks Aileron.......do you know if there are plans for another ground school soon after that one? Also, do you know how many new hires in the Sept ground school?

[ILS26_Steep]

8 Guys hired for september. Nothing know yet for October. Most likely another class. With the 4 new aircraft coming next, you can expect 60 guys needed by next June!

[MaximumSausage]

Thanks ILS26.....much appreciated.

Hear that guys. Time to dust off those resumes. Seems like a good company to work for and probably the only one actually doing any hiring these days.

[ScudRunner]

Wasnt Porter on the verge of bankruptcy? hence the need to go public. Or are they still on course for that after luring gullible investors?

If you read the news release they just raised another 15 million from private investors, the failed IPO was a combination of bad financial numbers in the prospectus, with investors still worried about a double dip recession and the decision was still before the courts over AC trying to gain access to the island it was a tough sell.

I think Warren Buffett has pretty much hit the nail on the head regarding investing in an Airline.

The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.

— Warren Buffett, annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, February 2008.

Porter IPO Prospectus,
http://www.sedar.com/CheckCode.do;jsess ... 0TF3cBk:-1
Would you invest?

[winds_in_flight_wtf]

Weird isn't it? AvCanada’s Heroic God’s of Aviation are wrong once again? The airline is ..... going under any day now!!!!!!!!!!!!! YET………… they purchase more airplanes? Delusional airline i guess!

[Boreas]

Some people just want Porter to fail no matter what.

[ScudRunner]

For the record I don't want Porter to fail, if anything I would love to see them prosper and expand. I for one believe there is room (not much) for competition in the regional market if nothing more to keep the rest from becoming complacent within their position. The positives I see in there prospectus is the low break even seat yield. A few percent rise in their seat yield would put Porter in the black , if they could hit higher yields it would be a gold mine. .

Breakeven Load Factor
Porter 49%
WestJet 71%
AirCanada 83%

If you bother to read the prospectus you can see from Porters numbers the high break even load factors of their competition (see above). The numbers will change with the rise in labor costs but still it only make up 21% of the costs but cost will rise and prices will no doubt fall with Jazz and Continentals access granted to the Island Airport.

Bottom line is its a tough sell to the investment community, with little capital in the market to speculate on an Airline with far better high dividend established stocks available at relativity discounted prices would you put your money on an unknown or in a proven company with a track record?

Don't get all high and mighty about an Airline ordering Aircraft as a sign of fiscal solvency, Perhaps I am just a realist but as a rule I bet against Airlines succeeding the odds are always in my favor.

old quote I know but why could I not get anyone to take my bet against Globespan.

Irish bookie Paddy Power is now taking bets on when your favorite airline is going to go bankrupt. Yes, with a little clever banking you too can now sell United Airlines short at 20:1 odds and hope that the carrier goes belly up. The top five favorites and odds?

* Alitalia: 8:15
* Spanair: 9:2
* SkyEurope: 5:1
* AirBerlin: 5:1
* FlyGlobespan: 5:1

Surprisingly all of them are European airlines -- but perhaps that's because Paddy Power is an Irish entity. What are their (least) favorite US carriers?

* United Airlines: 20:1
* Jetblue: 33:1

Yes, they even have odds on Air Force One at 1000:1. "Hogwash!" you say, "That's pure craziness!" Well, tell that to the guy who put $100 down on Giacomo in the 2005 Kentucky derby and won $5,030.

While the crazy odds on the president's aircraft may be a bit of a joke, Paddy Power does lend some interesting insight into the market conditions in which we now reside. As we saw last week, erroneous news that United had gone bankrupt triggered a massive selloff resulting in the temporary suspension of the stock. That dive wouldn't have happened if investors didn't believe that the news was true.

Moving those shares out of the airline industry and into Apple doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore, does it?

Filed under: Business, Airlines

I love the Irish you can bet on anything!
So whos up for betting on the next species to become extinct in the gulf of mexico http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-b ... p-specials

Any takers on Next Airport closed due to Volcano http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-b ... ts/Weather

[Vickers vanguard]

don't know about Porter financial health, but to answer another poster comments, wasn't Jetsgo adding airframes right to the point where they went under ?
Porter offers an alternative and I hope they survive, or at least they last for a while, I really do.

[To The Line]

Seriously??? No offence but I really dont think you've got a clue regarding Porters financial state.

Wasnt Porter on the verge of bankruptcy? hence the need to go public. Or are they still on course for that after luring gullible investors?

[goaroundthrust]

Thanks ILS26.....much appreciated.

Hear that guys. Time to dust off those resumes. Seems like a good company to work for and probably the only one actually doing any hiring these days.

Westjet hired over 100 guys this year......

[OhKiE DoHkIe]

Some people just want Porter to fail no matter what.

Come on now. That's not true. Seriously, that's simply just not true.

However, the woman heading the HR department is doing a great job at making it a very putrid working environment where employees are rewarded by method of backstabbing amongst ALL Porter staff in a very tv reality Survivor-esq manner. A classic textbook example on how NOT to run HR. HR is supposed to be there for you...not you for them.

What a sad existence it is for anyone having to find satisfaction revolving their life around "building empires" on a foundation of sand.

I wish her well on her quest to peace of mind.

[Tim]

However, the woman heading the HR department is doing a great job at making it a very putrid working environment where employees are rewarded by method of backstabbing amongst ALL Porter staff in a very tv reality Survivor-esq manner. .

you can't make an allegation like that without at least an example...well i suppose you can, but it just stays in line with the rest of the nonsense on here.

care to elaborate?

[To The Line]

Okay so you were fired/let go/pfo'd.....its time to move on. I hear Wasaya is hiring.

Some people just want Porter to fail no matter what.

Come on now. That's not true. Seriously, that's simply just not true.

However, the woman heading the HR department is doing a great job at making it a very putrid working environment where employees are rewarded by method of backstabbing amongst ALL Porter staff in a very tv reality Survivor-esq manner. A classic textbook example on how NOT to run HR. HR is supposed to be there for you...not you for them.

What a sad existence it is for anyone having to find satisfaction revolving their life around "building empires" on a foundation of sand.

I wish her well on her quest to peace of mind.

[OhKiE DoHkIe]

However, the woman heading the HR department is doing a great job at making it a very putrid working environment where employees are rewarded by method of backstabbing amongst ALL Porter staff in a very tv reality Survivor-esq manner. .

you can't make an allegation like that without at least an example...well i suppose you can, but it just stays in line with the rest of the nonsense on here.

care to elaborate?

...meh. I'm not really in the mood.
However just befriend any Porter flight crews (front or back end). Buy them a few cocktails and WATCH the B!tching show unfold about this person. It's very fascinating to witness.

Although I have many peeps @ Porter, I have no stake in Porter's success or failure. I wish them ALL the best as I wish the best to ALL my peeps trying to make a living in this cut throat industry.

Peace!

[bmc]

However just befriend any Porter flight crews (front or back end). Buy them a few cocktails and WATCH the B!tching show unfold about this person. It's very fascinating to witness.

Welcome to the working world. Show me flight crew that doesn't whine and bitch.

Let me guess. You're in your early 20's.

[OhKiE DoHkIe]

Let me guess. You're in your early 20's.

Just turned 15 actually. Working on getting my commercials...

[ng78]

Let me guess. You're in your early 20's.

Just turned 15 actually. Working on getting my commercials...

So you're very mature for your age if we thought you were in your early 20's Not sure which HR lady you speak of, but I don't think that's much of an issue with the company. The issues that exist there (like with any company) seem to be getting resolved slowly but surely. It's really not a bad place, if only we knew what the board of directors had planned for the long-run.

[MaximumSausage]

Thanks ILS26.....much appreciated.

Hear that guys. Time to dust off those resumes. Seems like a good company to work for and probably the only one actually doing any hiring these days.

Westjet hired over 100 guys this year......

That's great if you have 3 friends who work there and a note from GOD.