Porter delayed or cancelled your flight? Here's what you're owed.
Boutique airline, full-size obligations: Porter carries enough passengers to be a large carrier under Canada's APPR, so the maximum compensation amounts apply to its flights.
What Porter owes you
| Arrival delay at destination | Delay / cancellation compensation | Denied boarding |
|---|---|---|
| 3 – 6 hours | $400 | $900 (under 6h) · $1,800 (6–9h) · $2,400 (9h+) |
| 6 – 9 hours | $700 | |
| 9+ hours | $1,000 |
These are the APPR large-carrier amounts — Porter is a large carrier. Compensation is per passenger, and it is owed in money, not just vouchers, unless you agree otherwise.
The three buckets — the cause decides
Within the airline's control (crew, maintenance, scheduling, most "operational" reasons): the amounts above are owed, plus meals and communication during the wait, a hotel if you're kept overnight, and rebooking at no charge.
Within control but required for safety: no cash compensation — but rebooking, meals and hotel (if overnight) are still owed. This is the most disputed bucket in Canada. The airline must explain, in writing if you ask, what made it a safety case. A bare "safety" label is not proof.
Outside the airline's control (weather, air-traffic control, security): no cash compensation; rebooking is still owed.
If a cancellation is within the airline's control and you take a refund instead of rebooking, compensation is a flat $400. For denied boarding, the airline must tell you your rights in writing and pay the same day, or within 48 hours if you've already departed on the alternative flight.
How to file with Porter
- Keep everything: booking reference, boarding pass, the delay/cancellation notice, and receipts from the wait.
- File through flyporter.com — Contact → compensation. Put it in writing: flight number and date, arrival delay at destination, the reason Porter gave, and the APPR amount owed.
- Note the response date — Porter has 30 days to answer under the APPR.
- Save the confirmation and reference details.
Deadlines that matter: file with the airline within 1 year of the flight. The airline has 30 days to respond. Denied, lowballed, or ignored after 30 days? File a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) — it's free, it's online, and CTA decisions bind the airline.
Porter and the regulator
Porter is a large carrier under the APPR — the full $400–$1,000 amounts apply, despite its boutique image. The CTA has already fined Porter $90,500 over APPR violations around a single cancelled flight, largely for failing to tell passengers their rights and arrange alternatives. So if Porter doesn't volunteer your rights, that silence is itself the pattern the regulator punishes. Ask in writing, then escalate to the CTA if the answer doesn't match the table above.
Run your flight — free, 30 seconds
The checker tests EU261, UK261, Canada APPR and US DOT at once and tells you the amount, the deadline and where to file. If you're owed, the Ready-to-Send Claim writes the letter for you — free for the founding cohort, and you keep 100% of the payout.
Check my flight →Information only, not legal advice. Amounts are the statutory figures; the disruption's cause decides real cases. Delay Wages is not affiliated with any airline or regulator.