Porter quietly reaches profitability in fast-changing Canadian market

Small Canadian carrier Porter Airlines during 2011 celebrated its fifth anniversary by recording its first annual profits as rival Air Canada spent most of the year embroiled in contentious labour negotiations with employees that have escalated into employees participating in work slow-downs during the last couple of months. In contrast, so far during 2012 Porter has enjoyed steady increases in its traffic as it continues expansion of its route network. But the carrier could start to see pressure next year in some of its markets as WestJet prepares to launch a regional subsidiary operating the same size aircraft as Porter, which could create challenges for the carrier in sustaining its new-found profitability.

Porter CEO Robert Duluce recently told The Ottawa Business Journal that Porter enjoyed its first profitable year in 2011 and expects to remain profitable this year. Porter reached its profitability milestone while some if its key business markets came under intense pressure.