Porter Airlines CEO sees potential path to IPO within five years

The top executive of Canada’s Porter Airlines said he sees “a future potential path” to an initial public offering within five years, a move that would revive earlier ambitions of listing on public markets.

“I don’t think it’s a next year, or this year, type item,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Deluce said Thursday in an interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto bureau. “It could be in the two- to five-year range.” 

Deluce’s comments come nearly 14 years after Porter Airlines tested the waters for an IPO before pulling back on the plans. Porter sought to raise about C$120 million from a stock sale in May 2010 to expand operations and buy more turboprop planes, but scrapped the effort weeks later amid a slump in Canada’s stock market.

The privately owned airline is expanding, seeking to fill a void left by WestJet Airlines’ decision to pull back in Eastern Canada. It’s adding dozens of Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, launching new North American routes, and even developing a new terminal at an existing airport in suburban Montreal. 

Porter’s research shows that half the people living around Canada’s second-largest metropolitan area would be better served by flying out of Saint-Hubert Airport, about 17 kilometers (11 miles) east of downtown Montreal, Deluce said. Construction at Saint-Hubert began about six months ago and the terminal — starting with nine bridge gates — will be operational in the third quarter of 2025, he said. 

The company is partnering with Macquarie Asset Management on the project, which it expects will serve multiple carriers, although Porter will likely represent 50% to 60% of flights, he said. The airline may eventually divest of its stake, Deluce said.

“We are not a 70-year infrastructure investor. We take the risk, we bring a big chunk of the traffic,” he said. “I think where we fit in best is the first five years of an airport’s development.” 

The company doesn’t need capital today, he added. 

Porter will continue to expand operations at Montreal’s largest air hub, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, including through its recent joint venture with Air Transat, he said.