Airline cuts promo of U.S. destinations as 'Canadians may view this negatively'

Porter Airlines said it's shifting its marketing focus and reducing promotions for its U.S. destinations.

The airline, headquartered in Toronto and launched in 2006, currently flies to 16 cities in the U.S. However, with the uncertainty brought on by the U.S.-Canada trade war, Porter Airlines said it's cutting back on promoting its destinations in the U.S.

In an email statement, a representative said, "We've scaled back marketing our U.S. destinations, as some Canadians may view this negatively."

A quick look at the airline's social media reveals a shift in focus toward promoting domestic destinations in the past few weeks.

"We are at the point of the winter season when capacity transitions to summer schedules, where 75 per cent of our peak capacity is planned for domestic routes," they stated.

In response to tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about Canada becoming the 51st state, several Canadians have said they've cancelled their U.S. trips.

Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada said it has seen a 40 per cent decrease in bookings from Canada to the U.S. in February 2025 compared to February 2024.

WestJet said it has also seen a year-over-year decline in travel demand to the U.S. over the past few weeks. Although it hasn't seen a slowdown yet, Air Canada said in February that it plans to reduce U.S. flights starting in March.

But that doesn't necessarily mean Canadians have stopped flying to the U.S. Porter Airlines said it has increased its presence in the U.S. by around 150 per cent compared to the previous year.

"We initially saw some softening of select U.S. leisure markets, but Canadians are continuing to travel to the U.S.," Porter said. "Flights are being maintained to every destination in our network, and we will continue flying where passengers want to."