Possible offsite check-in locations.
In just three (or so) years Porter has gone from being a boutique operation to being a true contender. In fact they will soon offer more frequencies between Toronto and Ottawa, and Toronto and Montreal than either WestJet or Air Canada – every hour and every forty minutes respectively. Of the many things that make Porter appealing convenience is king. Not free drinks, not free WiFi. Convenience.
A couple of months ago I had an unbelievable experience with Porter; it took less than 15 minutes from my home to YTZ and less than seven [sic] minutes to check in and clear security. Try doing that at Pearson.
So the question becomes how can Air Canada and WestJet combat Porter’s YTZ offering? The answer is simpler than you might think. Buses. No, not the kind of buses built in Toulouse. Regular wheels-on-the-bus-go-round-and-round buses.
Like many places around the world, the ability to check in for flights should be extended from the airport to satellite locations around the city. The obvious locations would be major subway stops and malls. With a system like that in place passengers would only have to worry about getting to say Bloor and Yonge where they would be able to check in and then mentally check out needing only to deal with security once at the airport. It’s really about changing the perception people have of getting to Pearson. The aforementioned buses would provide ferry service to and from Pearson. This would make the trek less of an issue and would reduce the amount of time passengers would have to spend milling around in lines once at the airport. If necessary AC and WS could charge a fee for such a service or perhaps even restrict check-ins to Eastern triangle flights. This small addition would really make a compelling argument to fly out of YYZ.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) already serves YYZ but service is sketchy and there are no kiosks or airline personnel to check passengers in offsite. The TTC has announced the intention to serve YYZ with light rail but that service will not be available for the foreseeable future and AC and WS both need to act now to fight the bleed to YTZ.
Add into the mix that the expansion of YTZ will inevitably mean longer lines and wait times and AC may not even need to fight to fly out of YTZ. In fact I would hazard a guess that the cost of setting up an operation such as the one I’ve described would be less than the legal fees AC will incur in their fight to get off the ground from YTZ.
What do you think?
