Porter Airlines is putting some route change strategy into its new codeshare and loyalty partnership with American Airlines, scheduling three new routes from Canada to two of American’s U.S. hubs, giving its passengers connections to even more destinations.
The new routes will connect Ottawa, Canada’s capital and a major focus for Porter, with Miami and Phoenix, and will connect Phoenix to Vancouver on Canada’s west coast. The Ottawa routes have no competing flights, but the Vancouver route is also flown by Air Canada, Flair and WestJet—but none of the three have the connection with AA at Phoenix. The new routes start in February.
Porter, formerly a regional turboprop operator mainly in the east, has expanded in recent years, with a large fleet of Embaer E195-E2 and has expanded its reach to almost all of Canada along with routes to U.S. connections and the Caribbean. It has just signed on to codeshare flights with American, create joint itineraries, and allow AA loyalty members to earn points on certain Porter flights.
For American, the agreement provides Canadian connectivity it has lacked while Delta and United have had partnerships with WestJet and Air Canada.
