Special Service Requests
Porter is pleased to offer the following services to passengers with special needs. Please contact the Call Centre for further information about Special Service Requests at 888-619-8622.
Accessibility and Assistance
- Wheelchair, regular (WCHR) - Passenger with reduced mobility who can walk up and down stairs and is able to walk short distances. The passenger is accommodated with a wheelchair to/from the aircraft door.
- Wheelchair, stairs (WCHS) - Passenger with reduced mobility who cannot walk up or down stairs. The passenger is accommodated with a wheelchair to/from the aircraft door and is assisted into the aircraft through use of a boarding wheelchair.
- Wheelchair, confined (WCHC) - Passenger is immobile and must be assisted on and off the aircraft in a boarding wheelchair. Passenger’s wheelchair can be checked in at the counter or at the gate. The passenger wheelchair does not count as part of their baggage allowance.
- Visual impairment (BLND) - Passenger is visually impaired and is assisted on and off the aircraft.
- Hearing impairment (DEAF) - Passenger is hearing impaired and is assisted on and off the aircraft.
- Language difficulty (LANG) - Persons who do not speak English or French may request special assistance.
- Service animal (SRVA) - Service dogs are accepted on board the aircraft free of charge and must travel at the feet of their owner. Passengers travelling with their service animal should carry service animal support documentation for presentation to authorities during their travel.
- Meet and assist (MAAS) - A passenger can ask for special assistance. Examples include passengers with multiple children, passengers with a mental impairment, elderly not requiring a wheelchair, young person travelling alone.
- Portable Oxygen Concentrator (OXYG) - Passenger relies on the use of their own portable oxygen concentrator for all or a portion of their flight. For details related to the conditions of carriage of a POC, please follow this link: Request To Operate POC.
- Medical (MEDA) - Passenger has a medical condition or travels with an assistive device.
- Extra seat (EXST) - Passengers who are requesting additional seating for reasons of disability caused by obesity. This request applies only to domestic flights within Canada. For details related to these requests, please follow this link: Request For Additional Seating For Self.
- Attendant (ATTD) - Passengers who are requesting additional seating for an attendant for reasons of disability. This request applies only to domestic flights within Canada.
Attendants must be physically capable of assisting the passenger with their personal and physical needs during all aspects of travel with Porter. For this reason, attendants may not travel with both a passenger requiring an attendant and a child under 12 years of age.
For further details related to these requests, please follow this link: Request for Additional Seating For An Attendant. - Nut Free Cabin Zone (NFCZ) - While Porter is pleased to assist passengers with allergies, we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment given the public nature of our aircraft.
With 48 hours notice, we will remove nut products from our in-flight service menu and assign seating in a buffer zone where passengers are requested not to consume any nut product. Despite our efforts, nut product residue may continue to be present in the cabin, other onboard food items may contain trace elements of nuts and other passengers may bring aboard food items containing nut products or residue. For this reason, passengers with a nut allergy are strongly encouraged to take all necessary medical precautions to prepare for the possibility of exposure.
These services are available to assist passengers with disabilities with the following:
- registration at the check-in counter;
- moving to the boarding area;
- boarding and disembarkation including moving to and from passenger seat; if assistance is requested, Porter may require a person to pre-board the aircraft;
- retrieving checked baggage;
- travelling to a representative of another air carrier within the same terminal for a change of flight;
- moving to the general public area;
- transferring to a wheelchair, boarding chair or other mobility aid provided by the air carrier from the person's own mobility aid;
- assistance to stow and retrieve carry-on baggage aboard the aircraft;
- onboard assistance to transfer to and from a wheelchair, boarding chair or other mobility aid; if assistance is requested, Porter may require a person to pre-board the aircraft;
- assistance to move to and from the aircraft lavatory, including assistance in the use of an on-board wheelchair;
- help with meals such as opening packages and identifying items;
- periodic check from our cabin crew to determine if any assistance is needed; and
- communication of information regarding weather, on-board service, flight delays.
Please note that each Porter aircraft is equipped with an onboard wheelchair. While our flight attendants are pleased to provide assistance to those requiring use of an onboard wheelchair to visit the lavatory during flight, passengers must be semi-ambulatory and able to transfer themselves into and out of these chairs. With the exception of bulkhead rows, all aisle armrests in the passenger cabin of our aircraft are moveable.
Children and Minors
- Infant (INFT) - Passengers must be between 7 days and less than 2 years old at the time of travel. An adult 16 years or older, can travel with only one infant, and must not be seated in an emergency exit row of the aircraft.
- Unaccompanied minor (UMNR) - Passengers between 5 and 11 years old travelling without a parent or guardian must fly as unaccompanied minors. Guardians must be at least 16 years old at the time of departure.
This option is also available, though not mandatory, for passengers between 12 and 17 years old.
Unaccompanied minors will be escorted from the check-in counter to the aircraft at origin and from the aircraft to the arrivals area at the destination. Parents or guardians dropping off an unaccompanied minor must stay at the airport until such time as the flight has been airborne for at least 20 minutes. Parents or guardians meeting the unaccompanied minor at the destination must present photo identification.
Unaccompanied minor bookings must be processed through the Call Centre, and are subject to limited availability per flight. Unaccompanied minors are not permitted on connecting flights.
Equipment
- Sports equipment (SPEQ) - Sporting equipment is free if within weight and piece allocation. Excess weight and extra baggage charge will apply if outside the baggage piece limits. Sports equipment is considered as part of the baggage allowance.
Porter will accept the following items as sports equipment on its aircraft:
- Bicycle
- Golf clubs
- Skis, boots and poles
- Snowboard
- Hockey equipment
- Scuba gear
Assistive Devices
Porter is pleased to accept the following assistive devices onboard: ventilators, respirators, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, portable oxygen concentrators.
Only those ventilators, respirators, or CPAP machines that are labeled by the manufacturer as “FAA-compliant and approved for air travel” can be operated aboard the aircraft.
The following portable oxygen concentrators will be permitted to be operated aboard Porter aircraft: AirSep Freestyle, AirSep Lifestyle, Inogen One, SeQual Eclipse and Respironics EverGo. To use one of these portable oxygen concentrators, the passenger must supply the Call Centre (fax 416-203-6422) with a signed Physician’s Statement 48 hours in advance of travel and the device must be labeled that they are RTCA/DO-160 Section 21 Category M compliant.
Passengers who intend to operate such a device in the aircraft cabin are asked to call the Call Centre at 888-619-8622 no less than 48 hours in advance of travel to determine the expected maximum flight duration of each segment of his/her flight itinerary. A sufficient number of fully charged batteries must be brought onboard to power the device for the duration of their travel time including flight, all ground time and any unexpected delays. We regret that we are unable to provide onboard electrical power.
Spare batteries must be transported in carry-on baggage and individually protected to prevent damage and short circuits. In addition, each spare battery must not exceed the following quantities:
- For lithium metal or lithium alloy batteries, a lithium content of not more than 2 grams; and
- For lithium ion batteries, an aggregate equivalent lithium content of not more than 8 grams.
Lithium ion batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of more than 8 grams but not more than 25 grams may be transported in carry-on baggage if they are individually protected to prevent short circuits and are limited to two spare batteries per person.
Medical Fitness For Flight
In the interest of safety, Porter requires a medical certificate from passengers proposing to travel with Porter for whom any of the following conditions relate:
- They have an unstable medical or psychological condition including any that have previously caused a flight diversion;
- They have suffered from a recent major medical incident (i.e. heart attack, heart failure, stroke, respiratory failure);
- They have undergone major surgery in the two weeks before travel;
- They have an infectious or contagious disease (i.e. tuberculosis, chicken pox, measles);
- They have had an incident aboard a previous flight and may require medical attention.
The medical certificate must contain a written statement from a physician stating that the passenger is capable of completing the flight safely without requiring extraordinary medical assistance during flight. This certificate must be dated within 10 days of the first flight of the passenger’s itinerary.
Passengers with a fixed or immobile leg are also asked to communicate with the Call Centre at 888-619-8622 at least 48 hours in advance of travel in order that appropriate seating may be arranged.
Flights To/From United States
Passengers who wish to obtain a copy of US Department of Transportation Air Carrier Access Act Regulations (14 CFR Part 382), in an accessible format may do so through any of the following means:
- For calls made from within the United States, by telephone via the Toll-Free Hotline for Air Travelers with Disabilities at 800-778-4838 (voice) or 800-455-9880 (TTY);
- By telephone to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division at 202-366 -0511 (voice) or 202-366-0511 (TTY);
- By mail to the Air Consumer Protection Division, C-75, US Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, West Building, Room W96-432, Washington, DC 20590; or
- On the Aviation Consumer Protection Division’s Website (http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov).
