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::TRAVEL NEWS::
LE Newsletter - February 2, 2012
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Air Canada, Westjet And Porter Battle For Big Apple Business
Source:
www.thestar.com - Jim Byers
(Jan 27, 2012) The fight for the
Big Apple
is on.
The smackdown started Wednesday when Air Canada announced it was
launching three-times daily, non-stop flights between Toronto
Pearson and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York,
starting May 3. It also said it was increasing to every hour (14
in all, actually) its flights from YYZ to LaGuardia Airport in
New York.
Friday morning, WestJet upped the ante - big time - when it
announced that all eight of the landing/takeoff slots it won
late last year at LaGuardia (and paid dearly for) would be used
for flights in and out of Toronto Pearson. They’ll start with
seven flights a day on June 4 and add an eighth non-stop on July
12.
A few hours after that missive came a “watch this” note from
Porter Airlines, saying they were adding two more flights a day
between the Toronto Island Airport and Newark International in
New Jersey, a short Metro/tram/train ride from Manhattan. That
brings the number of daily flights from the island to Newark to
13. Porter also said it’s providing more convenient morning,
afternoon and evening departure times, although I haven’t seen
details.
The first new Porter flight starts March 26, with a second
flight beginning April 16. They also said they’ll have
additional weekend options as of March 25 but, again, no details
were provided.
Officials told The Star’s Vanessa Lu that the flights will cost
$49. With taxes and fees, it’s $136 each-way, for a round-trip
total of $272. That’s quite good.
I’m not sure Air Canada or Porter will match the WestJet $49
fare. I got a note shortly before noon from Peter Fitzpatrick at
Air Canada and was rather vague, which makes me think they’re
not going to try to match the fare, at least not at this point.
“As you know our policy is to be competitive in every market we
serve but I cannot get into details about possible future
pricing,” he wrote in an email. “It is worth noting that price
is not the only consideration, for example, for a business
traveler schedule is very important, and we have the best
schedule with the most flights and options for NYC. There are
other factors too, such as the availability of executive class
and related services, lounges, flight passes, Aeroplan and our
Star Alliance partners for connections etc....”
Later in the day, Brad Cicero of Porter sent a note to say their
current one-way “base” fare is $149 and that it fluctuates,
usually between $99 and $149.
“We will watch how other airlines respond to WestJet, but
haven’t made any decision to match fares yet,” he told me.
Without any promotional codes involved, I did a quick check with
Porter (
www.flyporter.com) and
found a Toronto-Newark flight for $474.37, all in. With Air
Canada, flights on those same days in June came to $385.57,
including taxes and fees.
New York, of course, is a huge business market. As is Toronto.
And WestJet has been carefully cultivating business travelers.
In addition to the New York flights, they’ve increased service
between Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa. Air Canada, of
course, now flies to Montreal out of the island airport in
Toronto and has been offering some of the same freebies that
made Porter’s name, including free alcoholic drinks on board
those flights.
It’s terribly fun to watch. And certainly it’s going to make New
York even more attractive and convenient. Hotwire.com did a
study (see Saturday’s Travel section for details) recently and
found that Canadians were searching for great Family Day deals
for New York more than they were for any other city. New York
City’s tourism folks just announced this week that they exceeded
expectations and drew 50.5 million visitors last year; the
highest mark ever.
As I said, these extra flights certainly make it even easier to
get to the New York area. Air Canada’s peak schedule (as of May
3) will have 14 flights a day from Toronto to LaGuardia, six a
day to Newark and three daily to JFK for 23 in all. WestJet is
adding eight Toronto-LaGuardia flights, while Porter announced
13 daily flights are coming soon.
That means a total of 44 flights a day from the Big Smoke to the
Big Apple, or nearby airports. And that’s just on the
Canadian-based airlines. You also can use the likes of United,
Continental, American and Delta to get to the New York area from
Toronto.
It’s a pretty major expansion. Eight more WestJet flights and
two more Porter flights and four more Air Canada flights, even
with three of those being on tiny planes to JFK, is a lot of
extra people.
It’s amusing to read how the three Canadian airlines try to
distinguish themselves pat themselves on the back.
Air Canada says it’s “strengthening (its) leading position in
New York City” and points out that its hourly New York flights
are “ideally-suited for business travelers.” They also point out
folks can access Maple Leaf or Star Alliance lounges and note
that the flights from Toronto to LaGuardia and Newark feature
Executive Class “the only Canadian airline offering business
class service.”
WestJet isn’t letting the challenge go unheeded. They call
themselves “Canada’s favourite airline” and says the new
Toronto-New York flights “will offer business and leisure
travelers alike the convenience, comfort and affordability
they’ve been looking for.”
WestJet says folks can start booking on Monday, Jan. 30 at
www.westjet.com or by
calling 1-888-WESTJET or talking to your travel agent.
For its part, Porter trumpets that it has “the fastest available
travel time between downtown Toronto and downtown Manhattan.”
They also say their service from Toronto Island to Newark
“provides the most convenient access to New York’s financial
district,” which I’m not quite sure about. Then again, it’s
vague enough that it would be hard to dispute.
Porter also brags about its “luxurious airport lounges” (they
ARE quite nice), Starbucks coffee, premium snacks (the
shortbreads and oatmeal cookies are quite good at the Island
Airport) and wine or beer on board. |
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::ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADAN TWIST::
