Porter Airlines

Is Porter Airlines safe?

Yes. Porter has flown for 20 years without a fatal accident or a written-off aircraft, and its new jet fleet is the youngest of any large Canadian airline. We score it 88, level with WestJet and above Air Canada. It loses points mainly on two runway events with its turboprops, both investigated by Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB).

Porter started in 2006 as a small turboprop airline at Toronto's island airport, Billy Bishop. Since 2023 it has changed shape: it now flies Embraer E195-E2 jets from Toronto Pearson and other large airports to destinations across North America. That growth is the main thing to watch. A young fleet helps, but fast hiring of pilots and engineers is the period when airline safety cultures get tested.

A new jet fleet

Porter took its first E195-E2 in December 2022 and its 50th in December 2025, according to the airline's announcement with Embraer. It has 75 on firm order and rights to 25 more. The E2 is a fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary design with modern avionics, and Porter's cabins have no middle seats.

The 29 Dash 8-400 turboprops are the older part of the fleet. They fly the short routes from Billy Bishop and in eastern Canada, and in 2026 Porter is refitting all of them with new seats and lighting. Turboprops are not less safe than jets, and the Dash 8-400 has a long record in Canada.

The one E2 event so far: on 22 February 2026, an E2 from Edmonton lost a tyre from its left main gear on take-off, according to AeroInside, which quotes the TSB. The crew declared an emergency, held to burn fuel and landed safely at Toronto. All 94 people on board were unhurt.

What happened at Sault Ste. Marie and Fredericton?

On the night of 16 April 2023, a Porter Dash 8 from Billy Bishop landed on runway 12 at Sault Ste. Marie with 56 people on board and ran off the end, stopping in muddy grass about 350 feet past it. Nobody was hurt and the aircraft was not damaged. The TSB found that the crew did not notice they had touched down further along the runway than expected. Full braking came late, with 850 feet left, and braking was weaker than it should have been on the last part of the runway. Porter sent its pilots an internal bulletin on approach briefings afterwards.

On 28 June 2024, another Dash 8 from Ottawa landed hard at Fredericton and its tail struck the runway. The crew went around and landed again without further problems, but the landing gear and the underside of the fuselage near the rear cargo door were badly damaged. The TSB ran a short investigation and published its report in February 2025.

Neither event hurt anyone, but runway overrunsRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary and hard landings are the kinds of events that become accidents on a worse day.

Flying from Billy Bishop

Billy Bishop sits on an island just off downtown Toronto. A 1983 agreement between the city, the port authority and Ottawa bans jets there and stops the runway from being lengthened. Porter tried to change that in 2015 to bring in jets; the federal government said no. The runway is short and surrounded by water, so approaches demand precision and strong crosswinds or fog cause more cancellations than at Pearson. This is one reason the operating environment scores 80 rather than higher.

Ground handling in winter is another weak spot. On 5 January 2026, a reversing de-icing truck struck a Porter Dash 8's wing at Billy Bishop, leaving deep gouges; the passengers left the aircraft and the flight was cancelled.

How to fly Porter well

• Check which airport and aircraft. A Porter flight from "Toronto" can mean Billy Bishop (Dash 8) or Pearson (E2 jet). The booking page shows both.
• Expect more weather cancellations from the island. A cancellation in fog or high winds is the right call on a short runway.
• Leave time in winter. De-icing at Billy Bishop and Ottawa adds to departure times, and it is worth the wait.

How we scored it

The accident record (94) and a fleet led by new E2 jets (88) carry the score. Serious incidents (76) take it down for the Sault Ste. Marie overrun and the Fredericton tail strikeTail strikeWhen the tail of an aircraft touches the runway during take-off or landing, usually because the nose was raised too far or too early.More in the glossary. Unlike Air Canada, which hands its turboprop routes to Jazz and PAL, Porter flies all its own flights.