Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan Still Against Island Airport Runway Extension.
In the Financial Post Kristine Owram reports that Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan’s consistent stance against Porter Airlines’ wish for a 400-metre runway extension could be another stumbling block for Bombardier Inc. and their CSeries jetliner.
During the 2013 federal election campaign, Vaughan stated via Facebook that the runway extension “will have a huge impact on everything from the quality of our drinking water, to the enjoyment of the waterfront that we’re currently rebuilding.” Vaughan also claimed that then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau supported him on this issue.
Owram goes on to report that the same day of this facebook post, Bombardier announced the conditional purchase agreement for 12 CSeries aircraft with options for 18 more, worth more than US$2 billion if all options are exercised at list price. The fate of this agreement hinges on Porter receiving approval to fly the CSeries jets out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport – which in turn requires approval of the 400-metre runway extension. Owram concludes that a resolute no from the federal government will erase the only Canadian CSeries order for Bombardier.
Citing Robert Kokonis (president and managing director of airline consultancy AirTrav Inc.), Owram describes that this cancellation would add another small problem to the assortment of larger troubles at Bombardier. Even with no recorded confirmed orders since September of 2014, Kokonis believes the order cancellation “really is not going to make or break whether the CSeries is ultimately going to survive.” However, Porter Airlines has more to lose per Kokonis. “Porter is banking a significant amount of its future and growth ability on obtaining those jets,” he said.
Owram concludes the article with where things sit as of October 22nd, 2015. Bombardier spokeswoman Marianella de la Barrera stated that the company had not yet heard anything official on the fate of the order. Porter spokesman Brad Cicero stated that the proposal was under review by the City of Toronto, PortsToronto and Transport Canada.
