Porter Airlines delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

Updated October 1, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 30, 2026 · By LandedLate

Porter Airlines owes $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger, in cash, for a delay or cancellation within its control. The amount depends on how late you reach your final destination: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. No compensation is owed if the cause was outside Porter's control or required for safety (a safety label can be challenged); you still get a new flight or a refund, and in safety cases meals (and a hotel overnight) if you were told less than 12 hours ahead. You claim on Porter's online form from 48 hours after landing and before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)), and Porter has 30 days to pay or explain why not. Accurate as of October 1, 2026.

Whether your own flight qualifies depends on its details: the reason the airline gave, how late you reached your destination and how much notice you had. Check it free at landedlate.ca/check.

How much Porter owes

Porter, delay or cancellation within its control
You reached your destination	Per passenger
3 to 6 hours late	$400
6 to 9 hours late	$700
9 hours or more	$1,000
Less than 3 hours late	$0

Per passenger, section 19(1) of the regulations. Data as of October 1, 2026.

Bumped from an overbooked flight for a reason within Porter's control? The amounts are $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours, $2,400 for 9 hours or more, paid within 48 hours (section 20). For a delay or cancellation within Porter's control (not for safety) that you were told about 14 days or less ahead, if you took a refund because the new flight didn't meet your needs, you're still owed at least $400 (section 19(2)). Every amount in one chart

When Porter has to pay, and when it doesn't

You're owed

The cause was within Porter's control (crew, scheduling, an aircraft change, most avoidable maintenance), you arrived 3+ hours late, and you were told about the delay or cancellation 14 days or less before departure (section 12).

Worth challenging

Porter says “required for safety”, weather or an earlier flight without detail, or doesn't answer within 30 days. Ask for the evidence.

Not owed

A genuine cause outside its control: weather that made flying your flight unsafe, an air traffic control instruction, a security threat, or a strike. You still get a new flight, or a refund if Porter can't rebook you within 48 hours. No meals or hotel are required (section 10(3)).

How to claim from Porter

Wait 48 hours after landing. Porter's form accepts claims from then on.
Open Porter's flight delay compensation form at flyporter.com and enter your booking details.
File one claim per passenger, per journey. Porter processes each traveller's claim separately.
Explain the delay in your own claim. State the cause Porter gave and when you landed. LandedLate drafts the wording and cites the sections of the regulations that cover your case.
Claim expenses separately. Meals, hotels and transport you paid yourself go on a separate expenses claim with Porter. Keep your receipts.

Write my Porter claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what Porter pays you.

Penalties the regulator has issued to Porter

The regulations give an airline 30 days after your claim to pay or explain why not (section 19(4)). The Canadian Transportation Agency has penalized Porter for missing that deadline in 2023 and 2025, along with other violations:

Issued	What for	Penalty
March 10, 2026	4 claims not paid or explained within 30 days (May 2025), plus, for the cancelled flight PD572 on March 30, 2025: 6 passengers not rebooked as required within 48 hours, 13 not informed by their preferred method, and food and drink not provided in reasonable quantities during a tarmac delay at Fort Lauderdale	$90,500
July 26, 2024	10 claims not paid or explained within 30 days (August to November 2023)	$2,000

If 30 days pass without an answer, note the date you claimed. It matters for a complaint to the agency.

A Porter credit versus a refund

Porter's pages say that when a disruption is beyond its control you receive a full credit, valid for one year from the date of booking. Further down, the same page says that if Porter can't offer a flight leaving within 48 hours of your original departure, you're entitled to a refund to your original form of payment. That matches sections 18(1.1) and 18.2 of the regulations. Ask for the refund in writing if you weren't rebooked in time.

What Porter says when it refuses, and how to answer it

The burden is on Porter: in a complaint, a disruption is presumed to be within the airline's control and not required for safety unless the airline proves otherwise (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)).

If Porter says	How to answer it
Maintenance, “required for safety”	The agency found that a delay caused by a heater being switched off, which let a lavatory pipe freeze and rupture, was within the airline's control: the maintenance and ground crew could have prevented it. It ordered $400 per passenger (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023). Ask what failed and when it was found.
Crew availability	Staffing is generally within the airline's control. In WestJet v. Lareau (2025 FCA 149), the Federal Court of Appeal found no error in the agency requiring WestJet to show it had a reasonable contingency plan before accepting that a crew cancellation was required for safety, and upheld the $1,000 award. More on crew shortages
Weather	The airline has to show the weather made your flight unsafe to operate. The agency rejected a weather defence backed only by undecoded weather reports and a list of other delays at the airport, and ordered $1,000 (Beauchamp v. WestJet, 68-C-A-2023). More on weather delays
An earlier delayed flight	A knock-on delay counts as its original cause only if the airline took all reasonable steps to limit it (section 10(2)). Ask what it did to protect your flight.

What else Porter owes you during the disruption

Meals and a hotel, when the cause was within Porter's control (including safety) and you were told less than 12 hours ahead: food and drink after 2 hours, a means of communication, and a hotel plus transport overnight (section 14). For causes outside its control, no meals or hotel are required (section 10(3)); Porter's pages say it will help you find a discounted room.
A new flight or a refund after a delay of 3 hours or more or a cancellation (sections 17 and 18). More on cancelled flights and refunds
Refunds of extras you didn't get, such as paid seat selection (section 18.1).

If Porter refuses or doesn't answer in 30 days

If Porter says no, ask it in writing which cause it is relying on and what shows it. If you get no answer, or a bad one, you can file a free complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency once you've written to Porter and either received its answer or waited 30 days. Expect a long wait: the agency says it may take more than 24 months before an officer reviews a complaint, and about 98,000 complaints were waiting, as reported on September 24, 2026 (The Canadian Press). How long the agency takes. LandedLate writes the reply and prepares the answers for the agency's form. How to file a complaint with the agency

Questions

When can I claim compensation from Porter?

48 hours after landing. Porter processes claims per passenger, per journey, so each traveller files their own. File before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)).

Porter offered me a credit. Do I have to take it?

For compensation, no: Porter says it pays in cash or equivalent, and a voucher only counts if it's worth more, never expires, and you accept it in writing (section 21). For a cancellation outside Porter's control, Porter's default is a credit, but if it can't rebook you on a flight leaving within 48 hours of your original departure, you're entitled to a refund to your original form of payment (sections 18(1.1) and 18.2). Porter's own page says so too.

How much does Porter pay for meals during a delay?

When the cause is within Porter's control or required for safety, Porter says it gives meal vouchers for an airport restaurant, depending on the timing of the delay; its pages list $8 for breakfast, $12 for lunch and $15 for dinner. If no vouchers are available, Porter says it reimburses up to $35 a day. The regulations require food and drink in reasonable quantities after 2 hours when you were told less than 12 hours ahead (section 14), so keep your receipts and claim them on Porter's expenses reimbursement form.

Porter hasn't answered my claim in 30 days. What now?

The regulations give Porter 30 days to pay or explain (section 19(4)). The Canadian Transportation Agency has issued Porter penalties for missing that deadline. Write to Porter again, then file a complaint with the agency.

Do I get compensation for a 2-hour Porter delay?

No. Compensation starts when you reach your final destination 3 or more hours late. At 2 hours you're owed food, drink and a means of communication if the cause was within Porter's control and you were told less than 12 hours ahead (section 14).

Sources

General information, not legal advice.