Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (IATA: YTZ, ICAO: CYTZ), commonly known as the Toronto Island Airport, is a small airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Air Marshal Billy Bishop, a Canadian World War I flying ace. The airport is used by civil aviation, air ambulances, and regional airlines using turboprop planes. It is accessed by passenger ferry. In 2011, it was ranked Canada's 9th-busiest airport and Ontario's third-busiest airport by passengers and the 14th-busiest Canadian airport in terms of aircraft movements.^[3][4] The airport was previously known as Toronto City Centre Airport and Port George VI Island Airport.

Conceived in the 1930s as the main airport for Toronto, the construction of the airport was completed in 1939 by the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC). At the same time, the THC built Malton Airport as an alternate, but Malton became Toronto's main passenger airline hub instead, leaving the island airport for general aviation and military purposes. During the 1940s and 1950s, several political leaders proposed expansion of the island airport to enable scheduled passenger airlines and reduce the annual operating costs. The Government of Canada expanded the island airport in 1962, in an exchange for Malton becoming federal property. After the expansion, the island airport's popularity for civil flights increased to a peak of over 200,000 annual flights in the 1960s. Although regional airlines were introduced in the 1970s, the annual number of flights went into decline. In 1983, governance of the airport was changed under a 50-year tripartite agreement between the governments of Canada, Toronto and the Harbour Commission, which limited the noise and types of planes using the airport. In the 1990s, questions about the airport's future were raised due to its annual deficit and the value of its waterfront location near downtown Toronto.

In 1999, the Government of Canada formed the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) to operate the island airport as a business and end the annual subsidy. Although expansion of the airport was controversial, the TPA partnered with new regional airline Porter Airlines to increase flights. A new passenger user fee imposed by the TPA led to the airport becoming self-sufficient by 2010. In 2012, the TPA began a project to link the airport to the mainland with a pedestrian tunnel, funded by the passenger user fee, which is intended to facilitate a further increase in flights. In 2013, Porter has proposed expanding the airport and modifying the operating agreement to allow it to use passenger jets at the airport.

History

1930s1940s

The first proposal to build an airport was made in June 1929 by the Toronto Harbour Commission. The Commission proposed a four-stage plan, starting with an "air harbour" for seaplanes, while the final stages proposed filling the then-regatta course lagoon between the sandbar and Hanlan's Point.^[5] Toronto City Council at that time agreed to the "air harbour" but "in no way-either by implication or suggestion- implies approval of the ultimate development of a combined air harbour and airport."^[6] In 1935, in a different environment^[vague], City Council received approval from the Government of Canada under prime minister R. B. Bennett to spend $976,000^[7] ($16 million in 2013 dollars)^[8] on a tunnel across the Gap and construction began.^[9] Council itself approved the tunnel and airport projects on August 8, 1935 by a vote of 157, against the opposition of Toronto mayor Sam McBride.^[10] That fall, after construction began, a federal election was held and William Lyon Mackenzie King was elected as prime minister. King's government reversed the previous government's decision, cancelling the tunnel project.^[10] Over $106,000 ($1.74 million in 2013 dollars)^[8] was paid out for already-completed work and putting the site back to its original condition.^[7]

Trans-Canada Air Lines was expected to begin operations in 1937, so in November 1936, City Council (without McBride who had passed away earlier in the year) formed an "Advisory Airport Committee" to advise on where to build a municipal airport.^[11] The committee proposed several locations and of these two were approved by the Government of Canada, which agreed to fund one-quarter of the project. The two sites were the Island and Malton, north-west of Toronto. A seaplane and land airport would be built at the island, and an auxiliary field was to be built at Malton.^[12] The project would fill in the regatta lagoon and extend the airport site on both the east and west sides. The proposal split council. On July 9, 1937, after two days of debate, City Council voted 147 to approve the construction of both airports.^[13]

The site of the airport had been home to a baseball stadium, numerous cottages, amusement park attractions and the regatta course.^[14] The 54 cottages and their cottagers were moved to today's Algonquin Island (then named Sunfish Island).^[14] The seaplane base was first used in 1938. The paved runways and the terminal building were opened in 1939. In April 1939, Toronto Council voted to name the airport Port George VI Island Airport. to commemorate an upcoming visit by King George VI in May 1939.^[15] The first commercial passenger flight to the airport was a charter flight carrying Tommy Dorsey and his swing band for a two-day engagement at the Canadian National Exhibition on September 8, 1939. It was also the first airliner from the United States to arrive in Toronto.^[16] Instead of the tunnel, ferry service was inaugurated across the narrow Western Gap channel. The first ferry service was a cable ferry, which was rated to carry 48 persons.^[17]

During World War II, the island airport became a military training base. From 1940 until 1943, the Norwegian Government in-exile use the island airport as a training facility for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Barracks were built nearby on the mainland at the foot of Bathurst Street.^[18] The nearby 'Little Norway Park' is named in remembrance of the Norwegian community around the airport. For the duration of the war the airport was used by the Royal Canadian Air Force for training pilots and as a waypoint for transporting planes.^[19] After the war, the airport returned to civilian uses. Flying clubs and several aviation companies set up at the airport, offering services such as aircraft rentals, air freight, charter flights, pilot training and sight-seeing flights.

1950s1960s

By the end of 1952, the accumulated cost of running the Island Airport, and paying the interest on the debt of construction, totalled $752,000.^[20] ($6.34 million in 2013 dollars)^[8] Toronto Mayor Allan A. Lamport, one of the original supporters in 1937 of building the Island Airport, began a renewed effort, along with the Harbour Commission to expand the airport, hoping to make it profitable. He pushed for a deal to turn over Malton Airport to the Government of Canada in exchange for improvements at the Island.^[21] The Government of Canada was amenable to the deal, and expanding the Island Airport, and installed an air traffic control system in 1953, but no comprehensive agreement was yet made. Agreement was reached in July 1955, but an impasse arose between the governments over the terms of the agreement. The impasse was settled in 1957^[22]. Runway construction began in 1959 and was finished in 1960.^[23]

By 1956, takeoffs and landings at the Island reached 130,000 per year,^[24] many of them private flights to Muskoka and Haliburton^[25] Other flights included a daily return flight to the race track at Fort Erie, Ontario for horsemen and gamblers offered by Central Airways.^[26] Takeoffs and landings in 1957 totalled 144,000, making the Island Airport the sixth-busiest airport in Canada.^[27] In July 1960, the airport recorded its millionth movement (take-off or landing) since air traffic control was installed in 1953.^[28] The Toronto Flying Club's move to the Island from Malton in 1960 caused a large increase in traffic. For 1961, the airport recorded 212,735 movements, of which 168,272 were for local traffic, including student flights. By number of movements, the airport was the busiest in Canada.^[29] However, the cost of operating at the Island airport forced the Club to close and sell its 12 planes after less than a year. It resurrected itself at Malton in 1963.^[30]

The airport improvements, including a new hanger, the new 4,000 ft (1,219 m) main runway, and night-time landing lights, were completed in 1962. The new lights allowed the first use of the airport for night-time flights since World War II when Norwegian flyers practised night-time flights.^[31] Night-time flights began on April 15, 1963, and the airport extended its closing hour from one half-hour before sun-down to midnight.^[32] The Government of Canada spent $3,118,500 on the improvements.^[33] ($23.2 million in 2013 dollars)^[8]

In January 1964, the cable ferry was retired, replaced by the Harbour Commission tugboat Thomas Langton^[17] That year, interest by municipal government officials was renewed in a new link to the airport. Takeoffs and landings had declined from the 1961 peak to 189,000 in 1962 and 187,000 in 1963, despite the addition of night-time capability.^[33] The decline was attributed to two factors: the limited access and poor service the ferry provided and the opening of the Buttonville Municipal Airport north of Toronto in 1962.^[33] The City of Toronto, spurred by Allan Lamport, wanted the Government of Canada to provide a better ferry, or a lift bridge. The Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) planning department studied a proposal to build a bridge, although full automobile access was opposed by the Metro Commissioner of Parks, Tommy Thompson, whose department was clearing the Islands of residents to convert the lands to parks.^[33] The Maple City, capable of carrying vehicles as well as passengers, took over the ferry service in March 1965.^[34]

In 1967, the Harbour Commission initiated a study into converting the airport into one suitable for the passenger jets of the day, such as DC-8s. The island airport runways were too short for jets, so a new airport would have to be built on new land reclaimed from Lake Ontario.^[35] The Commission developed this further into a full redevelopment of the Islands, whereby a residential development, entitled Harbor City would be built on the existing island airport lands, and a new airport with a runway long enough for jets would be built on a peninsula parallel to the south shore of the Toronto island. This plan also outlined the development of a new harbour, the Outer Harbour east of the Eastern Gap.^[36] The plan was later modified to situate the new Island Airport on the Outer Harbour headland, east of the Islands, with road access available from the Gardiner Expressway south along Leslie Street.^[37] Although the plan was approved by Metropolitan Toronto and the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada ruled out the waterfront site for a major airport early in 1970, although Transport Minister Donald Jamieson suggested there would be some sort of expanded airport serving "short-hop, inter-city" flights created.^[38]

1970s1980s

By 1970, the annual operating deficit (the cost of operating the airport minus revenues collected) of the airport had reached $200,000. ($1.18 million in 2013 dollars)^[8] Toronto Mayor Dennison warned that the airport could be closed as the Harbour Commission did not want to absorb the amount.^[39] At the time, the island airport site was slated to be the site of the Harbor City residential development, although a replacement for the island airport had not been agreed upon. A 1969 proposal to build a new airport by the new headland was met with opposition from local residents and Toronto City Councillors and was dropped.^[40] With plans uncertain, the Government of Canada requested that the Harbour Commission continue to operate the airport as is in the interim.

In 1972, the Harbor City project died when the governments of Canada and Ontario proposed to build a new major airport in Pickering, Ontario. At the same time, the Government of Canada initiated a feasibility study of converting the island airport to a major airport for Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) planes.^[41] Later that year, the Harbour Commission announced plans for an aquatic park on the Outer Harbour headland, the location in the 1968 plan for the relocated island airport.^[42]

In 1973, de Havilland Aircraft of Canada, makers of the new DHC-7 (Dash 7) STOL plane, proposed a network of STOL airports around Ontario, with the Island Airport as its hub, to the Government of Ontario cabinet ministers and the Government of Canada cabinet ministers. The first versions of the Dash 7 could support flights from the Island to smaller centres, such as Sarnia, Kingston, Peterborough and Owen Sound, with a larger version able to support flights to larger centres such as London, North Bay, Ottawa and Windsor. The island airport, which operated under visual flight rules, would have to be upgraded to instrument flight rules to operate the service. De Havilland also proposed a bridge to the island airport over the Western Gap.^[43] The Government of Ontario was interested in the proposal, and asked the Canadian government to work towards development of STOL. Ontario Intergovernmental Minister John White characterized "regional air service in southern Ontario as totally deficient."^[44]

By 1974, the annual operating deficit of running the airport had reached $300,000 per year ($1.37 million in 2013 dollars)^[8], $130,000 of it in operating the Maple City ferry.^[45] The City of Toronto decided to ask the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada to cover the deficit. A joint committee of the Toronto, Metro, Ontario and Canadian governments, with representatives of the Toronto Board of Trade and the Ontario Aviation Council was set up to study the possible future of a STOL airport. Despite the deficit, and in the absence of a subsidy, the joint committee studying the airport recommended to the Harbour Commission to keep it open. The report outlined three options: keep it open as-is, closing it and use the land for other uses (which would mean finding a location for the 140,000 takeoffs and landings elsewhere), or use it for a STOL airport.^[45] The Government of Canada agreed to grant an annual subsidy to the Harbour Commission to operate the airport, while the Government of Ontario agreed to pay for the costs of the airport ferry.^[46] The Government of Canada put a condition on the subsidy, that intergovernmental agreement needed to be reached on the future of the airport. Agreement on the future of the airport would take several years.

In January 1975, Otonabee Airways launched the first scheduled passenger service at the airport. Otonabee operated a three-times a day service between the island airport and Montreal's international airport. Flights cost $38 one-way and included a stop in Peterborough. The trip between Toronto and Montreal took two-and-a-half hours. The plane could carry 19 passengers in a two-seat-per-row configuration with a single aisle between the seats.^[47] 1975 was also the year that the island airport was used as the base for Olga, a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane helicopter used to dismantle the crane of the new CN Tower under construction and hoist sections of its new antenna into place on top of its concrete tower.^[48]

In April 1978, Transport Minister Otto Lang announced a plan to provide daily scheduled airline service between the airport, Ottawa and Montreal, using de Havilland Dash 7 STOL planes.^[49] The Government of Canada would invest $5 million in improvements at the airport including a covered moving pedestrian sidewalk linking the airport with Lake Shore Boulevard. Great Lakes Airlines proposed buying seven Dash 7s on the condition that the government subsidize the service at a rate of $8 million per year for the first three or four years.^[50] Lang stipulated that the plan would have to win local approval. In August, Toronto City Council voted 166 against the STOL proposal.^[51] In 1980, the Canadian Transport Commission turned down the plan stating that the airport's services were not satisfactory and required upgrading.^[52]

Art Eggleton was elected Toronto mayor and a compromise was reached in 1981, when the City of Toronto agreed to a limited level of commercial STOL passenger service, and the exclusion of jet airplanes. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the THC, the City and Transport Canada, and in 1982, the Canadian Transport Commission issued a licence to City Centre Airways to operate Dash 7 planes between the island, Ottawa and Montreal.^[53] In 1983, the City of Toronto, the THC, and the Government of Canada signed a tripartite agreement over operation of the airport. The agreement, in force until 2033, leases the land for the airport at a rate of $1 per year. The majority of the airport land is owned by the Government of Ontario with two small sections owned by the Government of Canada and a small section owned by Toronto. The agreement made provisions for a restricted list of aircraft allowed to use the airport due to noise levels, prohibitions on jet traffic except for MEDEVAC flights and prohibition against the construction of a fixed link between Toronto Island and the mainland. According to the Tassé report: "The Tripartite Agreement does not directly set a maximum number of flights or passengers at the Island Airport; it does, however, establish noise exposure parameters which are not to be exceeded (NEF 25), thus effectively providing restrictions on the number of flights."^[54] The number and type of flights are to stay within the Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) 25 exposure level to neighbours. The agreement was amended in 1985 to specifically allow the new de Havilland Dash 8, small 3739 seat planes at the time, which are not considered STOL planes.^[54]

In 1984, Air Atonabee, (as Otonabee Airways had been renamed in 1980) was re-organized into a new regional airline known as City Express. From 1984 until 1991, City Express continued and expanded its operations at the airport, peaking at 400,000 passengers annually in the mid-1980s.^[55]

1990present

Airport passenger traffic declined in the 1990s. Although a new airline entered the island marketplace, City Express folded. In the early 1990s there was a further decline due to an economic downturn. Additionally, the airport lost its subsidies from the Province of Ontario and Government of Canada. The ending of subsidies of the airport meant that the Toronto Harbour Commission became dependent on subsidies from the City of Toronto.^[56] During the 1990s, the Harbour Commission transferred much of its harbour lands to the City of Toronto for economic development and waterfront revitalization in exchange for future subsidies.

In 1990, Air Ontario (later to become Air Canada Jazz) started operating regional airline service to Ottawa and Montreal. That year, City Express folded in bankruptcy. In 1994, Jazz built a new terminal, moving out of trailers. That year, the airport was renamed the Toronto City Centre Airport.

The Toronto Harbour Commission made plans to expand the airport so as to achieve self-sufficiency, as it was dependent on subsidies from the City of Toronto.^[56] The situation lead the THC to transfer much of its land to the City in exchange for an on-going subsidy. In 1992, the THC proposed to build a bridge to the airport for safety reasons and as an improvement, at a cost of $8 million. THC's plans were initially opposed by Toronto City Council, but after the THC threatened to close the airport, an agreement was reached. Council agreed to a bridge on condition of continuing the 'no jets' ban, and that it not be built with Toronto tax dollars.^[57] After the City of Toronto was amalgamated, the plan was re-opened, and a tunnel proposed instead, but the new Toronto City Council approved a bridge in 1998.^[58]

In 1999, the operation of the airport was turned over to the new Toronto Port Authority (TPA), which took over the responsibilities of the Harbour Commission, including the airport and port functions.^[59] Unlike the previous Harbour Commission, the Port Authority used a different management structure and a different management focus. Its new board of directors contained fewer members appointed by the City of Toronto. The Authority was also expected to manage the port more like a business. A review of the airport operations concluded that the airport "is not sustainable and will likely lead to continued financial losses."^[60] Passenger volumes had declined to 140,000 annually from a peak of 400,000 in 1987. The consultants concluded that if services were upgraded to include small jets, that possibly 900,000 passengers could be carried by 2020. The report proposed a $16 million bridge and $2 million in runway upgrades.^[60]

By 2005, the airport recorded about 68,000 flights,^[61] down from a historic high of 240,000 in 1967.^[62] The only carrier operating at the airport was Air Canada affiliate Air Canada Jazz, operating flights between Toronto and Ottawa. In 2006, Jazz lost access to terminal space at the airport and was forced out of the airport. Jazz had been leasing terminal space month-to-month from City Centre Aviation Limited (CCAL), a private company that was taken over by REGCO Holdings (owners of Porter Airlines) in 2005. On January 31, 2006, CCAL issued Jazz with a 30-day termination notice.^[63] Two days later, on February 2, the new Porter Airlines venture was announced.^[64] Jazz contacted the TPA on February 3 to find other space. However the TPA did not have any space for Jazz to use^[65] and on February 15, 2006, Jazz announced a 'temporary' suspension of flights for the month of March.^[63] This subsequently became permanent.

Porter Airlines renovated the terminal and began regional airline service with flights to Ottawa in the fall of 2006 using Q400 series Dash 8 planes, 70-seat aircraft. Its entry into service was met by protesters who attempted to block passengers from the airport. Porter has since expanded to other destinations in Canada and the United States. The airport handled over 93,000 takeoffs and landings in 2008.^[66] To support Porter, the TPA launched the David Hornell ferry in 2006, which carries 150 passengers on its upper deck and 20 vehicles below. TheHornell replaced an older ferry, Maple City, which dated from 1964, which became the back-up. The Hornell is named after David Ernest Hornell, a Victoria Cross recipient.^[67]

In January 2009, it was announced that the TPA would purchase a second, larger ferry to support Porter's activities. The ferry was financed out of the airport improvement fee charged to passengers.^[68] The ferry had been proposed by Porter CEO Robert Deluce to the TPA's Board of Directors over the period of MarchJune 2008.^[69] The decision to approve the $5 million ferry precipitated a conflict-of-interest investigation of TPA director Colin Watson, who is a self-described friend of Deluce's, and who voted in a 54 decision to approve the ferry.^[70] Watson was cleared of the charge by the federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson in June 2009.^[71] The new ferry, named the Marilyn Bell I after a naming contest, went into service on January 22, 2010.

At its annual meeting on September 3, 2009, the TPA announced that it would rename the airport after William Avery "Billy" Bishop, a Canadian First World War flying ace. The proposal drew criticism from TPA critics such as Adam Vaughan, charging "the port authority is putting together a "feel-good story" to prevent people from asking tough questions about how the island airport is governed."^[72] On November 10, 2009, after approval from Transport Canada, the TPA officially renamed the airport to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.^[73] It is the second airport in Canada, after Owen Sound Billy Bishop Regional Airport, to be named for Bishop.^[74] The airport continued to be listed in aeronautical publications and weather reports as Toronto City Centre Airport, until February 11, 2010.^[1][73]

In the September 17, 2009, La Presse newspaper, Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu was quoted as saying that the term of exclusivity for Porter at the airport ends in 2010 and that Air Canada is considering a return to the airport in 2010, if acceptable terms can be arranged.^[75][76] Later in September, Jazz chief executive officer Joseph Randell reiterated the comments stating that it intended to restore service as early as April 2010.^[77]

In January 2010, the TPA announced that it would spend $8 million CAD on upgrades to the airport. The upgrades include a new $2.3 million Equipment Maintenance Building, apron paving, equipment upgrades and a noise barrier to deflect plane maintenance noise out over the lake. The expense would be recouped from the Airport Improvement Fee charged to passengers.^[78] In February 2010, Air Canada filed suit against the TPA to get access to the airport, access it had lost when Porter had evicted Jazz in 2006. On March 29, 2010, the Federal Court ruled that Air Canada would have a hearing in July 2010 of its objections to the TPA process.^[79] On March 7, 2010, the first half of the Porter's new terminal opened.^[80] The new terminal, estimated to cost $50 million, was completed in early 2011.^[81] The opening of the new terminal was met by new protests by Community Air activists protesting the proposed increase in flights.^[82]

In 2011, Air Canada began flying again out of the island airport. In July 2011, an agreement was reached between the City and the Port Authority to enable construction of a pedestrian tunnel connecting the airport. Included in the agreement was the proviso that the original 1939 airport terminal building would be dissembled and moved from the airport to an undetermined location, to be turned over to a third party, at Port Authority expense.^[83] Dismantling of the building started in November 2011, with an expected move in 2012.^[84] By April 2012 the terminal building had been moved from its original location and was temporarily residing on the grass to the south of runway 24.

In April 2013, Porter announced a conditional purchase of 12 Bombardier CS100 passenger jets, with an option to purchase 18 more. Porter president Robert Deluce announced that the airline would seek an extension of the main runway by 336 metres (1,102 ft)(168 m at either end).^[85] to accommodate the longer landing and takeoff requirements of the aircraft. The airline would also seek to lift the ban on jets at the airport imposed in the 1983 operating agreement of the airport.^[86] The changes would require the agreement of the Government of Canada, the Toronto Port Authority and the City of Toronto. The TPA announced that it would follow the direction of Toronto City Council on the potential expansion.

Facilities

The airport is located on the Toronto Islands, south-west of Downtown Toronto. The airport has one main east-west runway, two shorter runways, and a seaplane base, Toronto City Centre Water Aerodrome. The airport is used for regional airline service and for general aviation, including medical emergency flights (due to its proximity to downtown hospitals), small charter flights, and private aviation. Under its operating agreement, jet aircraft are banned from the airport, with the exception of MEDEVAC flights.

The airport is operated by the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), a Federal public authority. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency.^[87] The airport's hours of operation are 6:45 am to 10:45 pm, except for MEDEVAC flights.^[87] The airport's hours are governed by the 2003 update of the tripartite operating agreement which set the hours of operation.^[88] Airfield crash fire rescue and EMS are provided by the TCCA Emergency Response Service, backed up by Toronto Fire Services and Toronto EMS. Passenger traffic increased 46% from 2009 to 2010.^[89]

Public access

The only public access to the airport from the mainland is by the Toronto Island Ferry. At only 122 m (400 ft) in distance, the route may be one of the world's shortest regularly scheduled ferry routes. The ferry, which transports vehicles (for a fee) and passengers (free), operates from a dock at Eireann Quay to the airport dock every 15 minutes from 5:15 am to midnight (the 5:15 ferry is for airport staff, airline passengers can begin crossing at 5:30).^[90] The TPA operates the 200-passenger ferry Marilyn Bell I and the 150-passenger David Hornell.

There is a taxi stand and a small parking lot at the ferry dock. The 509 Harbourfront streetcar line serves the intersection of Bathurst Street and Queens Quay, one block north of the ferry dock, connecting the airport to Union Station. Both Porter Airlines and Air Canada offer free return bus shuttle service between the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and the airport ferry dock.^[91][92]

In 2012, construction began on a pedestrian tunnel which will provide additional access to the airport. The tunnel is projected to be completed in April 2014. Ferry service will continue after completion of the tunnel, for the use of vehicles and supplies transportation.

Tenants and terminals

There are two terminals and several hangars:

• Terminal A
• Porter Airlines Passenger Terminal
• Hangar 4A Ornge and Canadian Helicopters
• Porter FBO Hangars 5 & 6 home to Porter Airlines & Airborne Sensing Corp
• Trans Capital FBO operates a small hangar facility at the northeast end of the airport

Tenants include:^[93]

• Air Canada Express
• Cameron Air Service
• Eagle Aircraft
• Island Air Flight School & Charters (Hangar 4)
• Ornge Transport Medicine (Ontario Air Ambulance/MOHLTC)
• Porter Airlines
• Trans Capital Air air charters and FBO operations.
• (Others listed at the Toronto Port Authority web site)

The corporate headquarters of Porter Airlines and Sky Regional Airlines are located on the airport property.^[94][95] According to a TPA study, the airport employs approximately 1,700 persons. 84% of the positions are related to airlines and airlines servicing. Another 52 jobs are held in contract positions.^[96]

Fire and rescue

The airport operates its own fire and rescue service:

• Oshkosh Striker 1500 Airport crash tender delivered 2009
• Waltek C5500-P

Airlines and destinations

The TPA imposes a $20 per flight airport improvement fee surcharge on departing passengers of scheduled flights.^[98]

Connecting between Canadian and U.S. destinations occurs at the airport by means of following "Connections" signage. These passengers receive a secondary security screen at this point (as residents of Toronto flying to the U.S. will have to have a preliminary screen). Passengers flying to Thunder Bay and Sudbury (even when flying from another Canadian destination) are obligated to go through the second screening because Canadian destinations outnumber U.S. destinations. The airport was forced to add those two destinations to the complement of American destined passengers to facilitate the screening process in the small facility.^[99]

Disputes

Dispute over payments in lieu of taxes to the City of Toronto

Federal agencies such as the TPA do not pay property taxes per se, but instead some negotiated amount to account for municipal services. From 1999 to 2008, the TPA did not make payments in lieu of property tax (PILT) to the City of Toronto on the Island Airport in a dispute over the amount of the payment. By 2009, the City estimated that the TPA owed $37 million in unpaid PILT. The PILT were based on the assessed value as calculated by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, which assesses all property for the province of Ontario. The City and the TPA presented their case before a federal dispute resolution process. On January 26, 2009, the Dispute Advisory Panel recommended an amount of $5 million that the TPA must pay. This value was based on similar payments made by other airports, which make the payments based on passenger numbers. Pearson Airport at the time of the ruling paid 94 cents per passenger. The ruling by the Dispute Panel works out to 80 cents per passenger.^[100] On February 10, 2009, the City applied for a judicial review to the Federal Court of Canada.^[101]

On November 25, 2009, the City and the TPA came to an agreement in principle to settle all outstanding legal issues. Both sides agreed to accept the other's estimate of monies owned. The City will pay $11.4 million owing on payments related to the 2002 property settlement and $380,559 owing on harbour user fees. The TPA will pay the City $6.4 million owed to resolve the dispute over the PILTs. The agreement, which has been ratified by Toronto City Council, was made in conjunction with the transfer of 18 acres (7.3 ha) of land at Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard for a proposed Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) light rail storage facility.^[102][103]

In April, 2013, Toronto Council voted against a adopting a tax agreement with the airport, under which the Port Authority would have paid $5.27 million out of the $31 million the City claims it is owed for the period 1999-2012.^[104]

Bridge proposal

Since 1935, there have been repeated plans to construct either tunnels or a bridge to the airport. The airport continued to require public subsidies and various expansion plans, including jets and airport enlargement were seen as a way to increase its usage and make the airport self-sufficient. Meanwhile during this time, the downtown area surrounding the airport was redeveloped. Whereas it was once port lands and industrial buildings, the area changed with the coming of Harbourfront Centre, which sparked condominium tower development along the waterfront near the airport and increasing the number of residents in the area.

Opposition to the airport was formalized into the Community AIR (Airport Impact Review) volunteer association in 2001, headed by the late activist and former councillor Allan Sparrow. It was formed by local residents to oppose expansion on the grounds of increased air and noise pollution, safety concerns and that the increase in air traffic will hamper recent government initiatives to rejuvenate the Toronto waterfront.^[105] In July 2001, at a news conference held with representatives of the Sierra Club, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Toronto Environmental Alliance, the group proposed converting the 200 acres (81 ha) airport to parkland.^[106] Community Air was and is supported by the City councillors of the area.

It emerged during 2002, that Robert Deluce, former executive with Canada 3000, proposed to fly regional turboprop planes from the island airport. Deluce's proposal was initially conditional on the construction of a fixed link to the airport. In 2002, the TPA made plans to link the island to the mainland by a new bridge to serve expanded services.

At the same time, the TPA was pursuing a $1 billion law-suit against the City of Toronto over some 600 acres (240 ha) of port-lands it claimed were transferred improperly to the Toronto Economic Development Corporation by the TPA's predecessor, the Toronto Harbour Commission (THC), in the early 1990s during the mayorship of June Rowlands^[107] The port-lands had been transferred under the direction of THC directors appointed by the City in exchange for a permanent subsidy of the THC under agreements made in 1991 and 1994.^[108] The lands had been earmarked for waterfront revitalization by the City after the Crombie Commission. The lawsuit would emerge as a factor in the TPA's plans for expansion of the airport, and City Council support for the TPA's plans for a new bridge became conditional upon the lawsuit being dropped.

The proposal to link the airport with a bridge had been previously approved by Toronto City Council in 1995 and 1998, with the proviso that a business plan would be presented for approval by the THC and later the TPA for operating the airport. In November 2002, City Council met to debate the competing proposals, that of closing the airport in favour of some parkland, or of approving the TPA's plans and having uncontested title to the port lands. Despite pleas from former mayor David Crombie, urban planner/activist Jane Jacobs and Harbourfront residents, the TPA plan was supported by then-mayor Mel Lastman, who argued that the estimated $190 million of annual economic benefit the airport would create, was too good to pass up.^[109] On November 28, 2002, Council in a day-long debate, made two votes to settle the issue. First, Council voted 329 to accept a settlement to end the TPA port-lands lawsuit in exchange for an immediate payment of $5.5 million and an annual subsidy of $5.5 million to the TPA until 2012.^[109] Council then voted 2911 to approve the amendment of the tripartite agreement to permit a fixed link and the construction of a lift bridge.^[110]

The next year, a municipal election year, saw public opinion change to oppose the bridge.^[111] In October 2003, a Toronto Star poll listed 53% of residents city-wide opposed the airport bridge, while 36% supported it.^[112] Bridge supporter Mel Lastman was retiring. Councillor David Miller ran for Mayor on a platform to stop the building of the bridge, a position supported by Community Air and other local community groups. Other mayoral candidates Barbara Hall and John Tory supported the bridge. Although the bridge was an election issue, and the bridge project still required two federal approvals, the TPA continued developing the project, progressing to the point that contracts were signed with major participants (including companies operating from the airport).^[113]

In November 2003, Mr. Miller was elected Mayor of Toronto with 44% of the vote.^[114] While construction workers prepared the construction site, Miller immediately started the process to cancel the bridge project, sparking threats of another lawsuit from the TPA.^[115] The incoming City Council voted 2618 in December 2003 to withdraw its support of the bridge project^[116] and federal Transport Minister David Collenette announced that the Government of Canada would accept the Council's position on the bridge and withdraw its support.^[117]

In January 2004, the Government of Canada would put approval of the project on hold, preventing its construction.^[118] Immediately, Deluce would file a $505 million lawsuit against the City of Toronto, claiming that Miller "abused his powers", by threatening councillors, had Toronto Fire Services and Toronto Hydro "interfere with the construction of a fixed link" and lobbying the Government of Canada to "withhold certain permits."^[118] The Government of Canada later transferred $35 million to the TPA in May 2005 to settle claims arising from the cancellation from Deluce, Aecon Construction and Stolport Corp.^[119] Compensation terms were not disclosed.^[119] TPA CEO (Lisa Raitt) commented "You will never hear about the bridge again." and "We have been working very hard since December of 2003 to deal with the request of the City of Toronto not to build a bridge, and we are very happy that the matter has been dealt with."^[120] New federal regulations were introduced to ban any future plans to build a fixed link to the airport.^[120] The monies from the federal settlement were used by the TPA to purchase a new, larger passenger ferry and by Deluce to renovate the airport terminal.

Late-night landings

At the 2009 TPA annual meeting, concerns were raised about landings at the airport after the 11 pm closing time. Local residents had two concerns: the late-night noise and safety. Control tower staff are not present at Bishop after 11 pm (a practice that is very common at most Canadian airports). In one specific incident in September 2008, a late Porter flight was advised by air traffic controllers to divert to Pearson, but instead landed at Bishop. For the landing, Porter was fined an undisclosed amount by the TPA. Under the airport's curfew agreement, each commercial landing outside the airport's curfew may be subject to a fine of $5,000.^[121]

Increase in number of flights

On October 19, 2009, the TPA published a press release indicating that other carriers were interested in using the airport and that it was accepting expressions of interest. The TPA noted that any increase in commercial traffic would be within the 1983 tripartite agreement governing usage and noise limits.^[122] In December 2009, the TPA announced that it would allow up between 42 and 92 daily landings and takeoffs at the airport, beyond the current 120 per day 'slots' allotted. The slots would be allocated by an International Air Transport Association (IATA)-accredited slot coordinator. These slots would become available after Porter's new terminal building was complete.^[123]

In 2009, the Toronto Medical Officer of Health started studying the effects of the pollution from Toronto's airports.^[124] The TPA initiated a study by the Jacobs Consultancy to examine the air pollution from the airport, as part of an environmental review of the airport's activities.^[125] In January 2010, the Toronto Board of Health started holding hearings into the health effects of the island airport, including the proposed increased traffic.^[126]

In March 2010, the opening of Porter's new terminal was met by new protests by Community Air activists protesting the increase in flights. The number of slots is contested by Community Air, which asserts that this contravenes maximums previously calculated:^[82]

• 97 by Transport Canada, in May 1998,
• 122 by the Sypher Mueller report to the TPA in 2001,
• 120 by the City of Toronto and the Tassé report, and
• 167 per airport consultant Pryde Schropp McComb in a 2005 study for Porter Airlines.

Air Canada pursued a judicial review of TPA's plans to open the airport to other airlines. The action was heard in Federal Court in July 2010, and the Court dismissed Air Canada's claims against the TPA's decisions of December 2009 and April 2010 with respect to the airport slot allocations.^[127] Continental Airlines had also been reported as having interest in setting up Canada-U.S. flights from the airport.^[81] In June 2010, Air Canada and Continental Airlines received initial approval to fly into and out of the airport.^[128] Continental was allocated 16 slots, Air Canada 30 and Porter an additional 44 slots.^[129] In October 2010, Air Canada and the TPA concluded an operating agreement, and Air Canada was to begin operating flights starting in February 2011.^[130] Air Canada began flying out of the airport on May 1, 2011.^[97] However, United Continental Holdings, (the merged Continental Airlines and United Airlines) decided not to fly out of the airport.^[129]

Accidents and incidents

On June 20, 1941, two Norwegian pilots training at the Island Airport were killed. The seaplane was taking off from the Airport, when a ferry boat travelling from the mainland to the Toronto Island crossed their path. The plane crashed into the upper level of the ferry, then sank into Toronto Harbour.^[131]

On February 22, 1943, a Norwegian flight instructor was killed when his Curtiss plane did not pull out of a dive and crashed at the airport. Witnesses did not see the plane make any moves to pull out of the dive.^[132] 2nd Lieutenant Conrad Mohr radioed the base that he would do a power dive. It was his last planned flight before leaving for England to rejoin his family, which had recently escaped Norway.^[133]

On August 23, 1952, a bi-plane piloted by Charles McKay and John Pretner took off from the island airport and crashed in the backyard of a home on Markham Street, near Dundas Street West in Toronto. Both men were killed in the crash and ensuing fire. The plane was used by owner Charles Catalano's Aerial Advertising Service to pull signs behind it over the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). It was not pulling a sign at the time of the crash. McKay was a pilot for Catalano and Pretner was his guest aboard the plane. According to Catalano, the plane had passed an airworthiness test two weeks previous. According to witnesses, the pilot appeared to lose control of the plane when it went down. According to Donald Saunders, the Ontario District Air Regulations supervisor at the time, it was the first plane crash within Toronto since the island airport opened in 1938.^[134]

On September 12, 1953, a blimp parked at the airport was destroyed by a violent wind storm. The blimp, which had been advertising the Loblaws grocery chain, while flying over the CNE, was toppled from its mooring mast and then cut to shreds. Its pilot, Robert Brown of Lakehurst, New Jersey suffered back and head injuries while attempting to adjust its position. A crew attempting to deflate the blimp at the time was not injured.^[135]

In October 1954, Hurricane Hazel destroyed planes parked at the airport, including one of Charles Catalano's Tiger Moth aerial advertising planes.^[136] The airport ferry had to be disconnected from its dock and floated in the middle of the channel to avoid its destruction, taking the ferry out of service.

On April 14, 1958, a Cessna 180 plane on a testing flight from the Island Airport, crashed in Highview Park in Scarborough. The two occupants were able to escape the wreckage unharmed. The plane was flying 1,500 feet above Scarborough when the engine failed. The pilot successfully avoided children playing in the park, but the plane clipped a hydro pole, crashed into a fence and skidded to a stop in the park.^[137]

On November 23, 1960, race car driver Ted Hogan and friend Bruce Tanner died when Hogan's light plane travelling from Oshawa Airport to the Island Airport crashed into Lake Ontario near Highland Creek in Scarborough, Ontario. Witnesses said that one wing appeared to be damaged, the plane then went into a spin, exploded, caught fire and crashed into the water 200 yards off-shore.^[138]

On June 8, 1961, Henry Sharpe, a Peterborough, Ontario farmer, was killed when his plane crashed into Lake Ontario between four and eight miles east of the Island Airport. Sharpe had taken off from Peterborough at about 7:00 am that day, and encountered an electrical storm on his flight to Toronto for a milk producers' meeting.^[139]

On December 7, 1964, a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed 1,500 ft from the Island Airport runway. The pilot, Bruce MacRitchie of Toronto was saved when Toronto Harbour Police reached the aircraft about 30 seconds after the impact. The plane was returning to the Island from the Oshawa airport, when its engine failed and the plane impacted with the water.^[140]

On September 2, 1966, United States Navy Blue Angels pilot Lt. Cmdr. Dick Oliver was killed when he crashed his F-11 Tiger into a breakwater at the Island Airport, while performing in the Canadian International Air Show.^[141] The airplane was travelling west-to-east across the waterfront, lost altitude and crashed. Debris injured two bystanders at the Island airport.

On July 23, 1976, a Cessna 401 crashed and sank into Lake Ontario, one half-mile west of the airport. The pilot and two passengers, on a flight from Chicago Midway International Airport, perished in the crash. Donald Frankel of Chicago was the president and founder of the Flying Physicians Association, Inc. and was flying his plane to Toronto to attend the association's meeting.^[142]

On January 12, 1987, a Trillium Air Britten-Norman BN-2A-20 Islander crashed into Lake Ontario. The two people on board the aircraft, the pilot and a passenger, were rescued after the accident, but the pilot later died as a result of hypothermia.^[143]

On January 12, 1992, Graham Sellers, the pilot and only occupant of a Piper Twin Comanche two-engine four-seater plane, died when both engines failed on his final approach to land at the airport. Sellars was test flying the aircraft after it had been serviced for engine problems.^[144] His plane clipped the treetops, crashed through the airport's perimeter chain link fence and came to rest on the grass next to Runway 33.^[145]

On October 9, 1993, Nigel, Louise and Sarah Martin and Dennis Kaye died in the crash of a Beech Baron which had just taken off from the island airport. The plane crashed into Lake Ontario one mile west of Ontario Place, south of Sunnyside. The plane burst into flames upon impact and burned before sinking into 15.2 metres (50 ft) of water.^[146] The pilot radioed that he had engine trouble and was going to return to the airport. The plane had had engine work done the week before.^[147]

See also

• Toronto Pearson International Airport
• Toronto Pickering International Airport
• List of airports in the Greater Toronto Area
• STOLport

Notes

References

• Gibson, Sarah (1984). More Than an Island. Toronto, Canada: Irwin Publishing. ISBN 0-7720-1446-9. 
• Tassé, Roger (November 2, 2006). Review of Toronto Port Authority Report (PDF). Transport Canada. Retrieved February 6, 2009. 
• Dawson, Mary (June 25, 2009). The Watson Report. Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. 
• Sypher-Mueller Consulting International (December 2001). Toronto City Centre Airport: General Aviation and Feasibility Study (pdf). Toronto Port Authority. 

External links

• Airport Homepage
• Toronto Port Authority