Toronto media personality says he'd 'rather walk' than fly Porter Airlines

Toronto radio personality and former CP24 Breakfast anchor, Gurdeep Ahluwalia has called out Porter Airlines on social media, writing that he'd "rather walk" than fly with the airline. 

On Wednesday, Ahluwalia — who currently co-hosts The Pooja and Gurdeep show on 98.1 CHFI alongside former CP24 Breakfast host, Pooja Handa — called out the airline on X after his most recent travel plans went awry. 

"Thought you were supposed to be of the 'good' airlines?! Just had a terrible experience with you. Heading on a work trip — arrived at the gate more than an hour before the flight. Upon boarding — which was delayed — you tell me I've been 'flagged for secondary screening,'" the radio personality wrote. 

"You send me to another gate for screening, despite me telling you I'm on a hobbled leg and can't run that fast. You say that doesn't matter. So I run to the screening…no one's there. I run back and tell you this. You tell me to go back; you’ll call someone to screen me," Ahluwalia explained. 

Fly Porter? I’d rather walk. @porterairlines 🚫✈️ pic.twitter.com/ax8FjX41Om

— Gurdeep Ahluwalia (@GurdeepA) February 7, 2024

"I run back to screening a second time, get a half-hearted screening, run back to the gate, as you’re closing it. At which point you refuse me boarding and offer me no reasonable solution. Thanks Porter," he wrote, adding a middle finger emoji to the post. 

In a response under the post, Ahluwalia also said that Porter staff "provided no explanation for the secondary screening" and exhibited "zero compassion" for his injury. 

"I've been randomly searched and scanned many times, and it doesn't really bother me. It's the complete unapologetic manner of doing it right before takeoff and causing me to miss my flight that has irked me," Ahluwalia explained. 

"We are aware of Mr. Ahluwalia's recent experience. From what we've been able to determine, he was randomly designated for secondary security screening after he had already secured his boarding pass, which can be done up to 24 hours in advance of a flight," a Porter Airlines spokesperson in a statement to blogTO. 

"He was able to go through security without issue, as it was not indicated on his original boarding pass, however, he was still required to undergo the additional screening by CATSA before boarding the flight," the statement continues. 

"Porter was aware Mr. Ahluwalia required additional screening and had paged him multiple times, starting one hour prior to boarding, in an attempt to verify that this occurred. They did not have any success and Mr. Ahluwalia showed his boarding pass to Porter's team for the first time when boarding had already commenced," Porter Airlines told blogTO. 

"Any additional screening required by CATSA must be completed before the passenger can board. Porter notified CATSA and Mr. Ahluwalia was sent to another gate that had been designated for additional screening," the statement reads. 

By the time he returned, the aircraft door was closed for departure. Since there was only one flight per day to Mr. Ahluwalia's final destination, Porter offered other flight options, which he declined."

"We understand Mr. Ahluwalia's frustration, this isn’t the kind of experience we want for our passengers when travelling with us. We hope we are able to welcome him onboard at some point in the future."

blogTO reached out to Ahluwalia for comment on the incident but did not receive a response back in time for this article's publication.