SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010
KLMNO
An airline that follows a different route
by Michael Kaminer
As the plane’s propellers whirred, the flight attendant in the pillbox hat patrolled the aisle for a final check. The To- ronto skyline, seemingly close enough to touch, receded into a postcard view as we floated up into the air. This wasn’t some sepia-toned
air-travel fantasy. I was on Flight 123 of Porter Airlines, an upstart Canadian carrier whose idiosyn- cratic style — and aggressive ex- pansion — has competitors watching jealously as their own bottom lines keep shrinking. Though mostly unknown out- side Canada — even in New York, despite its having operated daily Newark-Toronto flights since 2008 — Porter’s stateside profile is about to rise in a seri- ous way. Over the past 15 months, 31
⁄2
COMING & GOING
Skipping the lines at the Amsterdam airport
Fast-track customs
It could be the end of the line
-year-old Porter has
added Chicago and Boston to its route map, and flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C., a popular winter getaway for Canadians, began Feb. 28. The airline is now se- lecting a Washington area air- port for its Toronto-Washington service, slated to launch this year. In Canada, the airline serves 10 destinations. Porter has also carefully craft- ed a quirky personality. Its much-hyped Toronto departure lounge feels more like a hip cof- fee bar, with iMacs, an espresso machine, free newspapers and mod furnishings. Its fleet con- sists exclusively of 70-seat Bom- bardier Q400 turboprop planes, quiet new-generation aircraft that cost less to operate than jets on short hauls. Everything from the napkins to the understated plane interiors to the mischie- vous raccoon mascot has been conceived by a single branding agency, London-based Winkrea- tive.
But the real killer app is its home base. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a tiny facility on a picturesque island at the foot of downtown Toronto. Porter is, for now, the only commercial ten- ant. Rivals such as Air Canada, American and Continental fly in and out of sterile, gargantuan Lester B. Pearson International Airport, about 20 miles north- west of downtown. Once you navigate your way out of that terminal, highway traffic puts the city a dreary hour and $60 cab ride away. Landing at Toronto City, by
contrast, means that you’re downtown after a short, friendly customs check, a 30-second fer- ry ride to the mainland, and a 10-minute shuttle bus to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, op- posite the city’s main train sta- tion. On a good day, the whole shebang takes about 20 minutes out of the gate. And seeing the CN Tower as your plane nears the runway is a thrill. For people who live and work in the city, Toronto City has miti- gated a long-standing pet peeve about the schleps to get out of town. “Pearson’s great if you’re traveling to Europe, but it’s cra- zy for a short-haul flight,” said Bruce Bell, a Toronto historian, author and tour guide who took his first Porter flight in Decem-
at customs in Amsterdam. For a select time, members of Global Entry, the two-year-old program that allows returning Americans to bypass U.S. Cus- toms and Border Protection agents for a speedy kiosk, can join the counterpart program in the Netherlands — without hav- ing to leave U.S. soil. Previously, Americans could apply for it only in the Netherlands. Four domestic airports are of- fering enrollment: Washington Dulles and Houston (through April 23) and Newark and Chica- go O’Hare (April 26-May 14). Once cleared, you are free to head to the kiosk at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, saving sub- stantial time. Cost is about $321; online application and interview required. In addition to Amsterdam,
ALAMY
A Porter airplane flies into Toronto City Airport. The city’s main airport is miles from downtown.
ber. Bell, who lives near down- town’s landmark St. Lawrence Market, says he can walk to To- ronto City in 20 minutes. “I don’t know what other city you can do that in,” he said. “And the airport doesn’t feel like a bus terminal.” Toronto City “is one of the most luxurious positions in the world,” agreed Tyler Brûlé, the Winkreative honcho who craft- ed Porter’s urbane brand identi- ty. “It’s as if there was a runway that ran parallel to Battery Park City in New York.”
Mimran, whose of-the-moment Toronto label Pink Tartan creat- ed Porter’s uniforms. “We stud- ied photos of flight attendants from the 1950s. And we based the uniform on a little Dior dress from that period. It’s so nice to get on a plane and see flight at- tendants who are well dressed.” If it all sounds frivolous, Por-
ter’s bottom line seems to prove otherwise. The airline has been consistently profitable, founder and chief executive Robert De- luce has said. While most air- lines are atrophying, Porter is
“When you pay attention to the
customer, the customer responds.”
— travel-industry analyst Henry Harteveldt
According to Brûlé, who has been an acerbic critic of legacy airlines in his Financial Times travel column, Porter has built its business on “democracy and dignity, which have been stripped from the flying experi- ence in North America. We have a single class of service, so why not have a lounge that’s open to everybody? Why not offer good beer and wine you don’t have to pay for?”
Brûlé and his crew even de- signed a smart, miniature in- flight magazine, Re:porter, to match the planes’ diminutive proportions. And it may be a sign of how beaten-down pas- sengers feel that even Porter’s porcelain coffee mugs and glass stemware have earned plaudits. Similarly, the pillbox hats that flight attendants sport — along with chic navy suits, pearl ear- rings and silk scarves in the company’s signature navy, taupe and white color scheme — have become one of Porter’s most talked-about tics. “We tried to capture how glamorous flying used to be,” said designer Kim Newport-
about to add 150 employees to its 850-strong payroll. Phase 1 of a $50 million terminal expan- sion at Toronto City opened its doors in March, with traffic ex- pected to increase from 800,000 in 2009 to 1.3 million this year, a spokesperson said. A second phase will complete the termi- nal this fall. Two new planes on order for this monthwill expand Porter’s fleet to 20 Q400s. And passenger numbers grew by more than 60 percent in 2009, according to Reuters. “Clearly, they’ve found that these small details matter,” said Forrester Research travel-indus- try analyst Henry Harteveldt. “When you pay attention to the customer, the customer re- sponds.” Harteveldt cited Bra- niff Airlines’ complete makeover by adwoman Mary Wells in the 1960s, and the revamp United Airlines got via ad agency Leo Burnett in the 1990s, “when they overhauled everything from the airplane exteriors to sugar pack- ets. In the past, airlines that paid attention were successful.” But business-travel guru Joe Brancatelli says that he — and
GOING OUR WAY The column takes a break this week but will resume next Sunday.
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road warriors like him — couldn’t care less. “Maybe I’m jaded, but getting a cup of es- presso in a lounge is not a big deal,” said the editor and pub- lisher of frequent-flier site Joe- SentMe.com. “And nobody I know says they fly Porter be- cause the flight attendants wear hats. You fly because the price is competitive, or it’s convenient.” “Porter’s advantage is that
they haven’t had to compete with the 800-pound gorilla,” he said. “The minute Air Canada could match the convenience of Porter, Porter would lose a lot of customers.” Not so, protests Deluce. “Our
service is resonating more than the proximity of our airport,” he said. “We’re now covering desti- nations where our passengers never even see Toronto City, like Ottawa-Halifax and Halifax-St. John. And we’re operating with very high load factors there.” After a recent Newark-Toron- to round-trip, I do wonder whether Porter can keep it all up. Traffic already seemed to be straining the Toronto City lounge. For the first time, the vaunted espresso machine kept conking out; as the line to use it grew, caffeine-deprived passen- gers became seriously agitated. Likewise, two of the lounge’s three iMacs looked as though they’d died; tracking down a staffer to service them seemed impossible. “It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain the small-town feeling as they get bigger,” said analyst Harteveldt. But adman Brûlé isn’t con- cerned. The airline, he said, will continue behaving much like its Mr. Porter mascot, the peripatet- ic raccoon that peeks out of ev- ery print ad and web campaign. “Raccoons are wily, crafty and a little mischievous,” he said. “They’re very much survivors.”
travel@washpost.com
Kaminer is a New York-based freelance writer.
U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion spokeswoman Joanne Fer- reira says the agency has signed an agreement with the United Kingdom and is “in conversa- tions with other countries,” such as Japan and Germany. To apply to Global Entry: www. globalentry.gov. For the Nether- lands program: https://www.
flux-alliance.eu.
Carrying on
Think you can save money by
carrying your luggage onboard rather than checking it in? If you’re flying on Spirit Airlines, think again. Come Aug. 1, Spirit will
charge passengers on domestic and international flights $30 for
each carry-on bag — whether
you pay online or at check-in. If you show up at the gate with a carry-on bag, you’ll pay even more: $45. Members of the $9 Fare Club,
Spirit’s membership club, will get a bit of a break. The price tag if you register carry-on bags in advance is $20. The charges apply only to bags placed in overhead bins. Personal items, such as purses, will incur no charge if they fit be- neath the seat. So far, no other airline charg- es for carry-on bags. It’s more common for airlines to charge for checked bags, and many have been increasing those fees in re- cent months.
F3
Spirit spokeswoman Misty
Pinson said the new fees will al- low the airline to lower fares; on average, the airline has reduced its lowest fare by more than $40 each way. “You’re not really pay- ing any more with this new change,” she said. Say what? “I think that this move by Spirit may cross the line for American travelers who are already near the breaking point due to rising checked baggage fees,” said Jami Counter, senior director of TripAdvisor Flights. Spirit’s chief operating officer,
Ken McKenzie, said in a state- ment that in addition to lowering fares, the fees will also reduce the number of carry-on bags, which will improve safety and will speed up the boarding and deplaning process. “Bring less; pay less,” he said. “It’s simple.” In another move, the airline lowered fees for the first two bags $9 Fare Club members check in to $20 for international flights and $15 for domestic flights, a savings of between $5 and $10. Industry experts are anxious- ly monitoring how other airlines react to Spirit’s move. “I’d expect other domestic carriers to sit back and watch to see how this move” plays out, Counter said. “If there’s not a strong customer backlash, other carriers may be tempted to match the move, giv- en the challenging industry rev- enue environment.”
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