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As Porter Airlines deepens its roots through Northern Ontario, so too does president and CEO Robert Deluce, whose recent expansions through the region come full circle with his flying family’s Northern past.
“It feels like a bit of a homecoming,” says Deluce, who grew up in White River and Timmins. “Our family does have a lot of history in the aviation sector and in Northern Ontario, so it’s certainly been nice to return to Northern Ontario over the past year, and to have Porter to be so well-received in those communities.”
Now rated as Canada’s third-largest scheduled carrier, Porter is headquartered out of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which Deluce refers to as “one of the best-located urban airports in the world.” Results would agree with him, as the site has been the cornerstone of a business that’s focused on direct flights to and from the busy city centre.
Since its inception in 2006, flights have expanded to destinations that include Quebec City, New York, Boston, Chicago, Ottawa and Montreal. Those broadened into the North in 2009, with three flights a day out of Thunder Bay, and one flight a day out of Sudbury as of March 2010.
Indeed, it’s been a busy three-and-a-half years for Deluce, who’s worked tirelessly to make his dream of business-class travel a reality.
He’s met with no shortage of success: what began with two planes and a staff of 20 in 2006 has since flourished into a slate of 20 planes and nearly 1,000 employees. This year, Porter Airlines is expected to see more than a million passengers fly through its Toronto location, where the company is wrapping up the first phase of a $49-million terminal.
“There’s a real sense of satisfaction when you can develop something from scratch,” says Deluce, whose flights include free amenities including more legroom, free drinks and premium snacks, and leather seats. “It’s great to have so many enjoy the experience of flying, which I think can be made fun again and more refined.”
Deluce’s current success hearkens back to his father, Stanley Deluce, who is credited by many as opening the North to air travel, and was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007.
Founding White River Air Services in 1951 following his service as a fighter pilot in the Second World War, Stanley’s bush charter service flew into remote Northern Ontario locations.
It was a business Robert helped out with as a child, and something which helped to infuse him with a lifelong love of flying. However, despite his flying heritage and his own skills as a licensed pilot, Deluce headed to McGill University with every intention of becoming a doctor, and even completed a general science degree in advance of entering the medical field.
It wasn’t long before he realized that, with flying in his blood, he was better suited for the family business. He returned to White River Air Services and helped usher in an age of expansion which saw the acquisition of numerous regional airlines, which were eventually sold to Air Canada in 1987.
These days, Deluce spends much of his time establishing the infrastructure of Porter Airlines while mapping out future destinations for his 70-seat Bombardier Q400s. These include the potential for routes in Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and even North Bay “in the very near future.”
While he still finds time to fly amphibious float planes into various points through Northern Ontario, fishing at Manitoulin Island and visiting his Muskoka cottage, Deluce is also preparing for an initial public offering for Porter Aviation Holdings Inc., the airline’s parent company.
It’s just the latest step in Deluce’s journey, which to this day is still marked by the lessons learned from his father.
“Everything from those early days influences Porter,” says Deluce. “My father inspired a lot of people with his competitive, entrepreneurial business style, and I’m one of those people.”
Others through the North attest to the value of Deluce’s efforts, as the presence of Porter is touted as a huge benefit not only for regional tourism but also for community development.
“Porter’s arrival is really the building block of everything we do here, and its success is linked to all our strategic goals,” says Robert Johnston, executive director of the Greater Sudbury Airport. “With Porter Airlines coming in, if what we expect will happen with stimulated passenger growth across the board, what’s ultimately going to happen is we’re going to see greater passenger travel, and derive more revenue from that travel. We’ll take those revenues to invest in more capital projects, expanding land development, promoting and marketing the airport, attract more services, and it just starts the ball rolling for growth as a community and as an airport.”
