Washington, DC— Porter Airlines of Toronto, Canada has joined the Regional Airline Association (RAA), becoming the association’s 29th airline member. With a home base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Porter employs more than 1,400 employees and transported 2.5 million passengers in 2012. Operating 26 Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, Porter is the Canadian launch customer for the Bombardier CS100 jetliner with a conditional order for 12 airliners and options for an additional 18. The airline currently offers flights to Toronto City, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax, St. John’s, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, Windsor, New York-Newark, Chicago Midway, Boston, Washington Dulles, and has seasonal flights to Mt. Tremblant, Que., Myrtle Beach, SC, and Burlington, VT.
“It’s a distinct pleasure to welcome Porter Airlines to the RAA membership where safety, professionalism and reliability are the signature traits of all of our now 29 airline members,” says RAA President Roger Cohen. “Porter has a growing presence in the US and their active participation adds another voice as we continue to underline the regional airline industry’s critical role in the air transportation system,” adds Cohen.
“Porter is recognized as one of North America’s leading service-oriented airlines and now is an appropriate time for us to join RAA to learn from and share best practices with other regional airline carriers. Our objective is to grow and operate transcontinental flights beginning in 2016,” notes Porter Airlines President and CEO Robert Deluce.
Founded in 1975, Washington, D.C.-based RAA provides a wide array of technical, government relations and public relations services for regional airlines. With safety as its highest priority, the association’s 29 member airlines and nearly 200 associate members represent the key decision-makers of this vital sector of the commercial aviation industry. With more than 13,000 regional airline flights every day, regional airlines operate half of the nation’s scheduled flights with nearly 75 percent of U.S. airports relying on regional airlines exclusively.
