Robert John Deluce

Robert John “Bob” Deluce was born in Chapleau, Ontario, April 9, 1950 to parents Stanley and Angela. Bob’s father, Stan, likewise was born in Chapleau and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, flying in maritime patrol on Canada’s east coast. Returning to his home town after the war, Stan earned a commercial pilot’s licence and bought his first aircraft, a Fleet Canuck in 1948.

In 1952, Bob Deluce moved with his parents and his older brother, Bill, from Chapleau to White River, Ontario, after his parents incorporated White River Air Services Limited. In 1951 they bought a Stinson 108 Station Wagon aircraft and started a bush flying charter service. By 1960 the company operated more than 25 aircraft with bases from Sault Ste. Marie to Moosonee on aircraft equipped with floats or skis, depending on the time of year.

Eventually there were nine children in the family, seven boys and two girls, all involved in the family business. Bob grew up servicing and flying various aircraft including Cessna 180/185s, Beavers, and Otters at the company’s bases. Today he serves as President and CEO of Porter Airlines, based at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

Bob attended St. Michael’s College School in Toronto, starting in 1964. While in Toronto, he took flying lessons at the Toronto Island Airport (now Billy Bishop Airport) in a Fleet Canuck, the same type as his father’s first aircraft. Bob earned his Private Pilot Licence on his 17th birthday and a year later he qualified for a commercial licence.

While still 17, Bob flew new Cessna aircraft from the factory in Wichita, Kansas, to Toronto and saw them equipped with floats for service in his parents’ company. Fresh out of high school, he also trained as a weather observer to assist two contract stations operated by White River Air Services. In 1971 Bob graduated with a B.Sc. degree from McGill University and worked with his parents and brother Bill to submit a proposal to the Government of Ontario for a carrier to operate Twin Otter aircraft for norOntair from Sudbury. The proposal was accepted and Bob then joined the family business full time.

After starting norOntair, the company built a major maintenance facility in Timmins, Ontario, to compete in twin-engine scheduled and charter services. In 1974, White River Air Services expanded with the purchase of Austin Airways.

At that time, Bob concentrated on aircraft sales as well as maintenance and engineering for the company. This entailed disposing of a dozen seaplane bases and 30 single-engine aircraft over the next few years as replacement twin-engine aircraft such as Twin Otters and Hawker-Siddely HS-748s were acquired during expansion. The family-owned company bought Superior Airways, a 50% interest in Air Ontario, a 50% interest in Air Manitoba, and most assets of Ontario Central Airlines and Hooker Air Services in Ontario.

By the early 1980s, Bob was Vice President and General Manager of Austin Airways, with its fleet of more than 50 aircraft. With continued expansion, by 1986 the Deluce family interests included full ownership of Austin Airways, 50% of Air Manitoba, 50% of Delplax (which owned 52% of Air Ontario) and 49% of Air Creebec. With Air Canada looking for connector airlines, a deal was struck in 1987 for Air Canada to acquire 75% of Austin Airways and Air Ontario, with the remaining 25% remaining with Deluce Holdings Inc.

Those holdings in other airlines were managed by Deluce Investments Inc., having all seven Deluce brothers as shareholders, with Bob as President and CEO of the company. When the Deluce interests in Air Creebec were sold, a 25% interest in Canada 3000 Airlines Limited was acquired and Bob became president of the company until those interests were sold in 1995. At that time the company was operating a dozen or more Boeing 757s and Airbus A320s – a long way from the Stinson purchased by Bob’s father. By then, the only remaining airline asset with the family company was Air Manitoba and Bob became president and CEO of the company in 1996.

By 2000, Bob and others were in discussion with the Toronto Port Authority about the possibility of starting a new airline from the Toronto City Centre Airport (formerly called the Toronto Island Airport). With supporting investors, the new Porter Airlines was announced in February 2006, with start-up set for October that year. An order was placed with Bombardier for up to twenty Q400 aircraft, and Porter was the first scheduled Canadian airline to use the new Q400 type. Service commenced with 10 return flights per day to Ottawa. In rapid growth, by 2016 Porter served 23 regional destinations in eastern Canada and the United States with 26 Canadian-built Q400 turboprop aircraft and 1,400 employees.

Now renamed as Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the location serves as the main base for Porter Airlines. To start, Porter bought the airport terminal used by Air Canada and Jazz airlines, and in 2010 opened a new and larger terminal at the airport. Bob’s sons, Michael and Jason, serve on Porter’s management team as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, and as Director, Information Technology, respectively, representing  third-generation members of the Deluce family involved with aviation. Under Bob’s leadership as President and CEO, Porter Airlines serves 15 Canadian and eight American destinations. Locations served reach from Thunder Bay east to St. John’s and from Vermont to Florida. Six airline partners connect with Porter for overseas service.

Among his many awards, Bob has received the CEO Award of Excellence from the Canadian Public Relations Society in 2010.  He has been recognized as Marketer of the Year by the Canadian Marketing Association in 2012, and for Porter Airlines’ excellence by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He has served as a director of the Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) for three terms and was named as an Honorary Life Member of ATAC in 2013.

Guy Hachey, former President and CEO of  Bombardier Aerospace, has stated that,

“There is no doubt that aviation is in Bob’s blood. Because he knows our industry so very well, he has a unique talent for finding opportunity where others do not, and his willingness to persevere in the face of daunting challenges is nothing short of remarkable. Who else would start a new airline in the face of intense community objection, against stiff competition from larger well-established airlines and weather the 2008 recession – only to come out on the other side to be named by Condé Nast Traveler readers as the best airline in the world?”

As a pilot, Bob Deluce has personally owned five Cessna types and a Harvard. Since he began flying as a teenager, he has logged some 12,000 hours at the controls of over 38 types of aircraft. Bob has now followed his father, Stan, into Canada`s Aviation Hall of Fame. Married to Catherine since 1975, Bob is the father of the couple’s four adult children: Justine, Jason, Brian and Michael.