REVIEW: Porter Dash 8 Billy Bishop Flight

Introduction

Following on from my last review is the return trip from Ottawa to Toronto but this time to the island airport. Jets are not able to fly into Billy Bishop given the limitations placed on the airport, so both Porter and Air Canada fly Dash 8 Q400s. These were the entirety of Porter’s fleet until last year, with the E195-E2s arriving. These are still forbidden from operating at Billy Bishop, so they are based further out of Pearson Airport. For more information about Porter, refer to the previous review here.

Booking

Booking was done at the same time as the outbound on the E195-E2 so that it won’t be covered in depth here. The important thing to note is that the booking classes are the same with PorterReserve at the front of the cabin, though only rows 1 and 2 on the Dash, compared to four rows on the Embraer, though the complex product does differ, as discussed later.

Ground Experience/Departure

After returning my rental car and venturing out briefly into the freezing cold, I made my way to the check-in desk. Unlike my experience in Toronto, my cabin bags weren’t weighed, which I thought was peculiar given we were boarding a smaller aircraft. Afterwards, I was directed to security, where a security officer scanned my boarding card and directed me to the standard economy queue. There was a fast-track queue, but that seemed to be reserved for Nexus cardholders, which appears to be the equivalent of TSA Precheck and Global Entry rolled into one.

It did strike me as odd that there was no fast track for premium cabins. Even if PorterReserve exists somewhere in the middle of the economy and an actual premium cabin, it would be a good differentiator given the lack of differences elsewhere (particularly on the Dash-8). Once through security, the fun really began; we were assigned to Gate 23 and told we had a delay. This was slightly peculiar to me as the aircraft had already shown up at the airport on FlightRadar24, but the stand was empty.

I listened to some rather interesting comments from the groups around me; one chap was telling another passenger all about the UK and how there was no history or culture outside of London, and that there was no point in going to either Scotland or Ireland because they have neither (I highly disagree on both counts. Ireland is amazing, and there is a lot more to the UK than London), on the other side, there was a group of teenagers bullying their younger sister, and behind me, a lady was happily telling another passenger that her son was waiting to pick her up at Toronto Pearson, the other passenger, pointed out we were not, in fact, flying to Pearson, which led to a moment of self-doubt as she stated we were; in the end, she phoned her son to tell him he was at the wrong airport.

These conversations were interrupted by the announcement that our gate was changing to Gate 20, followed immediately by the gate agents involuntarily yelping “No!” and getting on the tannoy to reassign us again to Gate 22, which was too late for half the passengers that had already departed. It really did resemble an airport version of Fawlty Towers. Boarding was eventually called; unlike Toronto, PorterReserve was not called separately, so everyone piled forward.

I did appreciate the Dash-8 was attached to a jet bridge with a little ramp into the plane which maintained at least a semblance of reasonable temperature. We pushed back and sat for a considerable period of time to let the aircraft warm up before we proceeded to the remote de-ice area, backtracking along the runway to get there.

Here, we powered down our engines and were coated in de-ice and anti-ice fluids as an Air Canada A220 pulled into the next bay. It wasn’t long before we were powering back up and onto the same runway we had backtracked along for take-off.

Cabin/Seat

During the pandemic, Porter managed to add an extra row of seats to each Dash 8, increasing their capacity from 74 to 78 seats. As you can imagine, given the planes themselves didn’t grow, this additional row came at the expense of seat pitch for the other rows. Most rows have reduced pitch from 32 to 30 inches. The seats themselves are also far thinner and more lightweight, 50% lighter, according to Porter.

Above the seats are overhead bins with two air vents and two lights per row of a much older vintage than the new aircraft. The bulkheads were standard grey and unbranded, unlike the Embraer’s blue offering.

The PorterReserve seats had cards in the seatback pocket identifying them as such. A passenger from behind me asked to swap into the empty row across from me and was allowed to but warned that the seats were now a separate class, so there may be crew who stop passengers from doing so in future, particularly on longer flights with different service in PorterReserve.

I was sat in row 2, the first row on the right, a PorterReserve row. These rows managed to escape the seat pitch cull and remain at 32 inches. It should be noted, though, that PorterReserve seats have Thirty-six inches of pitch on the Embraer, a whole four inches more. Even the PorterClassic Stretch seats (only available on the Embraer) have more pitch at 34 inches. As my seat was at the bulkhead and by an emergency exit, the tables were stored to the side of the seats.

Standard seats have small armrests, but these seats have bulky units in the middle to hold the tables. This reduced the seat width considerably, and I was surprised at just how narrow they were, particularly for a supposedly better seat within the cabin. The tray table was also very lightweight and had seen better days, it seemed, which was slightly annoying given how much seat width it took up. Worse still, when the person behind put their table up and prodded through the incredibly thin seats, it felt like really prominent lumbar support. The seats gave off the vibe of an army stretcher, given how thin/lightweight they were. The Dash seats are noticeably tighter than those available on the Embraer. There is clearly a trade-off for passengers in terms of comfort versus convenience on a PorterReserve ticket. For standard PorterClassic ticket holders, the seats are 30 inches of pitch on both aircraft.

Snack

Snacks in a basket were once again provided and were plentiful. The incredibly friendly flight attendant encouraged me to take a second set of shortbread cookies. The other options on this flight were crisps and nuts. Drinks were also provided, and I asked for a Coke. I was pleasantly surprised to be given a full-sized can (take note, BA) and also found out that Canadian Coke comes in larger cans than British Coke does, 355ml vs 330ml. If I had wanted, the crew would have provided multiple drinks to me as well rather than just one.

Once again, though, the crew only made it about two-thirds of the way back before they had to prepare for landing. If flying on the shorter flights Porter offers from Toronto, it really pays to be in the front half of the aircraft to have any chance of getting the food and drink that is included with your ticket. I do have to commend the crew, though, because even though they were under time. Pressure and stress to provide service, they maintained a very friendly and happy demeanour throughout the flight, which was nice to see.

Inflight Entertainment/WiFi

Unlike the Embraer, there are no IFE options and no WiFi. DeHavilland Canada, the new manufacturer of the Dash 8, has announced options for WiFi in the future, but it remains to be seen whether Porter takes them up on the offer. It was another aspect of the flight that was noticeably inferior to the brand new Embraers, though on such a short flight, again, it wasn’t necessary, but if given the option for longer flights, the Embraer is the better option.

Arrival/Entry Experience

This is by far the most interesting part of the flight. Due to the airport’s unique location on an island across from Downtown Toronto, the approach is stunning. Whilst I sadly never got to experience the Kai Tak approach, this is similar in that the plane descends below skyscrapers that are mere hundreds of feet away. The lake below was mostly frozen, adding further to the atmosphere. This approach was one of the things I experienced on my bucket list, and it was well worth it.

On the ground we passed a Dash 7, still in Air Greenland livery, surprising given the last operations concluded in 2015. As we approached the gate, passengers were told to remain seated to allow passengers for Thunder Bay to deplane, given the delay. Another tight connection, Chicago, was told not to worry as the crew from our plane were also operating that flight, so it too would take a delay. I remained seated as I was not in a rush, but I don’t think the repeated announcements had any effect, given the steady stream of passengers getting off. Once on the stand, passengers deplane down onto the tarmac and walk into the gate, which extends next to the plane but is covered the entire way by an inflatable shroud that attaches to the airplane to cover the short walk into the building.

Inside, it is a short walk landside, where there is a replica Nieuport 17 plane hanging from the ceiling and lots of information about the airport and its namesake, Billy Bishop. There are two options for leaving this area back to the mainland. One of which is completely unique.

A tunnel and a ferry! Before 2015, the only way to cross from the island to the mainland was, in fact, the ferry. A tunnel was built, with lifts and escalators to allow pedestrians to walk 850ft from the mainland to the island. Cars still must use the ferry; incredibly, the ferry is also fully electric, powered by wind and solar. Given such a unique opportunity, I, too, decided to use the ferry. The ferry goes back and forth across the channel every 15 minutes; watching the ferry rock and roll on its way across to pick me up had me reconsidering, but I had come too far. The winds were straight down the channel, causing significant swell.

Upon arrival, the locked door was opened, and I walked down a jet bridge-like structure to board the
ferry. I was the only passenger on foot crazy enough to want to use the boat but there were vehicles
onboard too. The passenger deck is wide open with some benches around the edge but lots of
standing space. As we left the shelter of the dock, I was very happy to have chosen to sit as the boat
lurched side to side, so much so my roll-along bag fell over. Entering the other dock was tricky for
the crew, and we bashed off the left-hand side before slamming into the right and then back into the
left before finally settling. 

Upon disembarkation, I walked out of the satellite terminal building and hopped on board the airport’s free shuttle bus to take me into Toronto, and mere minutes after we set off, I was at the Central railway station, which has express rail links to Pearson. An automated announcement on approach lets passengers know that this free shuttle bus exists, though I was the only passenger on my shuttle.

Bottom Line

The scenic arrival into Billy Bishop was incredible and well worth taking the Dash-8 service. The
convenience of the airport compared to Downtown Toronto is another big plus. That being said, the planes are much smaller, with much narrower seats than the Embraer, and there is a lack of IFE and WiFi. Given this, if you have an option between Porter’s two aircraft types, I would lean toward the Embraer E195-E2s, particularly if you are connecting onwards to a long-haul flight from Pearson. Short-haul connections at Billy Bishop are much quicker and less complicated, so that might make me lean towards the Dash-8s again.

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