@movernie
On the New Embraer E195-E2 Jet:
As I entered the entrance of the new jet, we were greeted by a friendly flight attendant. First thing that I noticed was how much longer this plane was as compared to the smaller Porter planes flying from Billy Bishop. This new jet no longer uses propeller. It has the big turbine engines on both sides of the wing.
However, this plane was not wide, it’s quite similar to the width as the propeller planes that Porter uses to fly out of Billy Bishop. It feels like the same propeller planes only twice the length. The layout was 2×2 configuration, where there were no middle seats, with the window/aisle combination. Porter claims this layout with no middle seat as another Porter Perks since many other airlines do have a middle seat (totaling 3 seats in a row). As we all agree, no one wants the middle seat.
I luv the fresh smell of the new plane. The seats smelled fresh. In fact, everything smelled amazing! There were overhead cabins to put in the carry-on. However, I noticed that if you put your standardize carry-on vertically to give more space for other passengers to put in their carry-on, there was a chance that the lid couldn’t close. So, it’s safer bet to put the carry-on sideways but that’s not super efficient as putting it sideways create less space to store more carry-ons. This was where I was a bit disappointed with the overhead design. Why can’t they build and extend the overhead a little bit longer so it guarantees the carry-on can fit vertically? SMH.
Each seat had a headrest with a Porter logo on it. I would say the seat was ok. It’s not wide enough with pretty small seat and I ain’t even over 6 feet tall, so you could imagine any tall person may feel a little bit cramped. However, with economy class, every airline have similar small seat anyways. Leg room was ok, there was enough space to put in my backpack or other personal items. Would I prefer more stretching room, of course, but it is what it is, for a 3-5 hour flight, this seat was doable and did its job. But of course, if you prefer more leg room, then you can pay up for the Porter Reserve class category.
I do have to say that…..after a 5-hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver, my back started to get a bit sored and legs starting to require some stretching. I would prefer the seat to have more lumbar support, but again, it’s doable but could be better.
In between each row, there were 2 power outlets to charge your laptops or smartphones. So, each passenger had its own power outlet.
Each person had its own light and fan which I like. In many other airlines, I hate it when all the ventilation and lights were located in one seat location relying the fan to be strong enough to blow some air con to my face from afar, I don’t like that. Kudos to Porter having each individual ventilation. I had my own control and ventilation separate from the other passenger’s control system.
In front of my seat was a seat pocket that included a “Re:Porter” travel magazine, the emergency escape visual card, the food & beverage menu. There was also instructions on how to connect its complimentary WIFI and in-flight entertainment to our devices. I guess the big drawback was the lack of TV screen on each individual seat and rely solely on your own laptops or smartphones for in-flight entertainment.
Since this was an inaugural flight, we were informed that we would be able to try some of the Porter’s meal that usually would be available for purchase. So, it’s complimentary in this inaugural flight, however, it was quite disappointing that by the time it came to my row, which my seat was row 16, which was half-way from the last row of row 32. I was surprised they only had Rasberry smoothie chia bowl left. It was a bit of a headscratcher on this one as they announced over the speaker phone that they will offer complimentary meal for us to try. So, I thought perhaps they will have a variety of small samples for this particular flight for us to try. Since Porter was expecting to hand out meals for people to try for free, then why on earth there aren’t enough variety for the passengers to choose in the first place? SMH.
Anyhow, the smoothie bowl was super tasty and fresh but it was super small that I didn’t know if I would pay $7.99 CDN for it though.
But looking at the food options, I really dig them. They offer options such as soba noodles, salmon poke and croissant egg & cheese sandwiches. They steer away from the boring chicken wrap or ham sandwiches that other airlines offer. So, kudos to Porter for bringing some cool food options to its flights!
There were 2 washrooms on the plane, with one washroom at the very front of the plane near the entrance. And the 2nd washroom was located at the back of the plane. Both washrooms were typically small size but did its job with the toilet seat, garbage can, sink with soap. However, it was a bit odd at the mid-way point of the flight that the water ran out for the washroom from the back. I had to use hand sanitizer to clean my hands. Nevertheless, the washroom was clean, modern and bright.
An hour before landing, the Porter staff did a 2nd round of handing out complimentary beverages. You can get a beer/wine/non-alcoholic beverage plus snacks. This time, I ordered a white wine.
NOTE: They serve red wine and white wine from the well-known Jackson Triggs from the Okanagan Valley,, BC and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario regions. So, Porter knows what a good wine to serve its customers.
After approximately a 5-hour flight, we had landed safely at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). As our plane pulled up to the airport terminal, a whole crew of Porter staff and the media were waving and welcoming us on the tarmac. That was quite a sight!
MoVernie FUN FACT: Porter Airlines use the new Embraer 195-E2 jets for routes from Toronto Pearson to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax (NOTE: They plan to expand to have routes to USA & Mexico in the near future).
Porter Perks on these flights:
– Complimentary WiFi + In-Flight Entertainment
– Complimentary Beer/Wine/Non-alcoholic beverages with glassware
– Complimentary Snacks
– Complimentary Meal (Porter Reserve)
– Meal for purchase (Porter Classic)
– No Middle Seat (2×2 window/aisle layout)
@porterairlines has definitely elevate the “Economy Class” segment that makes you #ActuallyEnjoyEconomy
