Robert Deluce’s Airport Dream
Whether or not you agree with the idea of a busy airport on Toronto’s waterfront, it seems Robert Deluce is intent on pressing ahead with the launch of Porter Airlines - a move that’s also got Air Canada excited again about the Island Airport. Unless there is a bold political move to stop the airport from expanding, perhaps the best move would be to let Deluce buy new airplanes so he can start operating. This may sound weird given I’m opposed to the idea of waterfront revitalization including an aiport but perhaps we should let business fundamentals stop something that citizens are unable to do. If you look back, airlines out of the island have not done well economically for a variety of reasons - some of them having to do with the lack of a permanent link. Deluce thinks he can be successful by having a low cost structure - and with help of the evil Toronto Port Authority, which plans to start ferry service from Cherry Beach. I say: spend $500-million on new airplanes and go for it. I have a funny feeling, however, that even with the TPA’s new ferry service, Porter Airlines will struggle financially. Then, don’t be surprised to see Deluce lobby aggressively for a bridge to airport as a way to “save” his investment.
March 22, 2006 at 1:19 am
Many people keep addressing this issue without facing the basic issue of fairness. Look, if we build (as Torontonians will proudly ell you we have done) a multi-cultural city, with citizens from everywhere, then we will depend on air travel. If we wish to remain a powerful, wealthy, and influential commercial hub; if we want to keep the qualities that make Toronto attractive, then, again, we will need to rely on air travel. Since air travel imposes certain environmental burdens, elementary decency requires that we at least make an effort to share them fairly. Pearson International Airport, affects tens of thousands of people who live near or under the flight paths. Shifting the traffic to City Centre Airport might reduce the noise spikes at some schools in Rexdale and Malton by as much as 10%; and it would accomplish that at a very low environmental cost to the waterfront.
October 16, 2006 at 2:51 pm
You haven’t done much research. City Express, which was based at the Island Airport in the 1980s, did very well economically. It was when Robert Deluce launched Air Ontario as a competing airline, City Express went bankrupt.
October 23, 2006 at 10:09 am
Congratulations!!! I hope that Porter Air will be sucessful. To all the ney sayers I say get stuffed
October 25, 2006 at 9:25 am
The Toronto City Centre Airport – A Continual Drain on Our Resources
Who knew that when this little airport was forged in 1939 (then known as the Port George VI Airfield) it would become the focal point of such dispute, and interestingly enough, become representative of such a distressing aspect of the city that we call home?
The harrowing happenings at our little Island Airport simply cannot be ignored anymore.
For those who are just catching up, the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) currently owns and operates the Toronto City Centre Airport. In 1983 an Agreement was made through the City of Toronto, the Toronto Harbour Commission (now the TPA) and the federal government which allowed restricted use of the airport due to just concerns from the general populous over noise and air pollution. This Agreement did allow for the traffic of MEDEVAC flights (on account of the proximity to the city’s hospitals), but not for the foundation of a physical conduit in the form of a bridge from the island to the mainland.
Since the airport has consistently required financial assistance from the government to stay afloat, the TPA has been adamantly pushing for an expansion that would accommodate up to 900 000 passengers annually, instead of 80 000 (which is approximately the current number of flights recorded per year).
And, with the arrival of Porter Airlines (a subsidiary of REGCO Holdings), plans for a serious expansion of the airport were accordingly, let’s say, refueled. Henceforth, the company proposed to acquire Q400 turboprop aircraft in order to provide for an increased flight service from the airport, once the plans for the bridge between the island and the mainland were in place, but these plans (although given the ‘go-ahead’ by Mel Lastman in 2002), were then astoundingly revoked (phew!) by the federal government in 2004 (after the election of David Miller in late 2003).
But just when you thought you could breathe easy again, REGCO Holdings continued to order 10 Bombardier Q400 Aircraft, and in early 2006 began renovations on the terminal buildings (including the oh so conceivable eviction of Air Canada), and construction on a larger, sturdier ferry for the accommodation of a larger body of traffic. (Access to the airport is recognized through the ferry service). However, in yet another shocking development, Air Canada has since resumed flights from the airport, using the Stolport Corporation Facilities at the airport, beginning on August 28, and as Air Canada Jazz.
Oh the drama!
Many locals including the aptly named lobby group Community AIR (Airport Impact Review) strongly oppose the expansion due to the inevitable increase in air and noise pollution, among other safety concerns.
Their claim that the expansion will undoubtedly hinder the recent initiatives by the government to revitalize the waterfront area is obviously not unsubstantiated.
When the city recently slapped a cease and desist order on the installation of some lights on the mainland, I could not keep from chuckling to myself a little. Could you? Apparently a lot of digging was being done on land that is merely leased to the port authority, while owned by the city. Now, this of course, is just an extension of the farce that occurred in 2002, with the construction of the lift bridge being approved and workers being turned away due to confusion at City Hall over who signed what, and when!
Really! What are we to think when safety concerns are clearly fortified by events such as the crash of the small aircraft into the Belaire Condo building in Manhattan, and, the much more relevant and ever so unforgettable catastrophe of the brand spankin’ new airport ferry (both ironically occurring on the same date, October 11 2006)? On the poor new ferry’s maiden run no less, what was supposed to be a mere 1 minute trip ended up as such a fiasco when the snazzy, “porkly” representation of taxpayers’ dime spun out of control for a full 27 minutes, and even crashed back onto the mainland before finally docking at its intended destination (the island). Port authority officials were given the ride of a lifetime!
Are we amused yet? I, myself don’t know whether to laugh, or to find someone to slap!
Now, here is something I just can’t quite seem to understand. When the expansion plans were stopped in 2003/2004, and the federal government negated the original authorization for the bridge, REGCO Holdings had promptly sued the city for breach of contract. Since this lawsuit wound up being thrown out, what really was the propellant for the donation to the TPA of 35 million dollars by the federal government? Was it maybe for the maintenance of the TPA? So that they might be able to settle with (thereby further funding) Porter Air? And carry on with the subsequent advancement in the expansion proceedings?
Hmmm… This just might take me ‘til the next election to figure out!
Nevertheless, who really knows what is going on with the Toronto City Centre Airport. I honestly do not know what Mel Lastman was thinking (or if he even was thinking), but I do wholeheartedly agree with David Miller in consistently fighting any expansion whatsoever of this airport, for the obvious, and not so obvious reasons. At any rate, even if the design and foundation of a grand $5 million dollar ferry, built for traversing the “world’s shortest scheduled ferry run” (as recorded by Guinness) cannot be relied upon, blessed are we in this great city, in which there actually exists a second airport. A more consistent, finer and more advanced airport, which I do believe has never required the use of a ferry for access.
-Kevin Dass
December 8, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Disinformation indeed. As a resident of the closest condo to the Island Airport, I must say that I’ve never once heard one of Porter’s planes taking off from anywhere inside the building, and even from outside, in the park across the street, it’s hard to hear the planes since they’re so quiet.
I even went and talked to a couple of the protesters who occasionally gather near the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, none of their arguments for closing the airport were even slightly valid. “It’s creating pollution!” - Or is it reducing pollution, since all these travellers no longer have to fight at least a half hour of freeway traffic to get to Pearson? “They’re noisy!” - You didn’t even hear that last one take off over the sound of the lunatic beating the drum, did you? “They’re going to expand into a big airport with noisy jets!” - Expand to where? It’s an island. It’s always been a regional airport, and always will be. “Because!…..” - Well I guess I don’t know how to argue with that one.
I for one have no problem with the airport, and will be happy to save a few hours on trips to Montreal or Ottawa. I’m not a big fan of the ignorance displayed by some, but those with common sense will make up their own minds.
January 11, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Well, I use to live just next to Little Norway Park.
I have since moved.
The airport is loud!
The empty shuttle busses that loudly proclaim “Porter” also proclaim how inefficient the development of the airport is.
I have to side with Ian on the common-sense bit, though: Sooner or later common-sense will prevail!!!
June 9, 2007 at 9:30 pm
I can’t believe that these idiots can complain about the noise when we have the noise of canada’s biggest city as a backdrop.
The biggest festival of the year “the Ex” is highlighted by the airshow, the biggest single event in the year for toronto. Aviation is necessary and useful, and being able to avoid Pearson and travel fast is smart.
It is retarded that jets cannot operate out of the airport as the latest technology regional jets are quieter than their turboprop counterparts.
London’s city airport is a fantastically useful vehicle for getting out of London to other European capitals as just one example of the usefulness and resurgence in city centre airports through out Europe. The destruction of Chicago’s Meigs field (by Chicago’s equally crazy mayor Daly) has seen a serious drop productivity for those flying into the chicago area privately. Those cities that lose their city centre airports lose a really important asset and opportunity, and I regret that one day we will no longer be able to travel out of CYTZ.
June 22, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Look a it now, it’s doing pretty well for itself almost a year on! I ask you to go fly it. $200 roundtrip from Montreal, beat that. Try and beat the fact there is no secuirty lineup, and there is no waiting in line to get your boarding pass. There’s also a lounge with satellite TV, internet access and leather chairs. The plane ride itself is fast, no waiting while taxiing at Pearson. The flight I took was a full half-hour shorter than any Pearson - Trudeau ride I’d taken before. Before you go ahead and complain your life away, give it a try.
August 8, 2007 at 10:47 pm
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