YHU would definitely be an improvement for me over flying into YUL as my destination is in the Sherbrooke area. However, PD doesn’t fly to YQR so it’s not much help at this time. Getting across the river has never been great, except late at night or early in the morning but in recent years I have found the traffic to be much more unpleasant than previously so I’d be happy to avoid it as much as possible.

I like PD, but I wish their hubs were not all in Eastern Canada. For example, the only way I can fly PD from YYC to YYJ is via YYZ. I'm not turning a 1.5 hour trip into an 11 hour trip

Same for me with Westjet. YYG-YYC-YYZ ain't gonna happen no matter what.

I do YYC-YUL a couple times a year, always on AC. I usually stay downtown.

This won't change my habits - AC to YUL it is.

What might sway me is if I can't consistently get preferred seats on AC. I don't check bags, OLCI, have nexus, don't use the MLL much, only get a few upgrades a year - so those seats matter to me. With AC's reconfigured narrowbodies, I'm worried there won't be enough of these, and I'll get stuck in regular Y. If that happens, I just won't see much benefit in flying AC. At that point, I'd be tempted to at least try the new airport with Porter.

The real threat to MET is the REM extension to Trudeau opening next year.

Not for the 2,000,000+ people who don't have ready access to the REM. For me, driving to the REM, lugging bags onto the REM. Plus the 41 minute transit time. And to my knowledge there is no long term parking at the REM.

YHU will save me 30 minutes driving in optimal conditions, but likely an hour each way + a more efficient airport experience + probably much cheaper and easier parking.

I'd pay more for a ticket to avoid YUL if flying domestically.

I'm AC loyalist and would only change airports if AC was the carrier

Have you tried Porter Reserve? It's like a premium economy cabin, with 38" pitch in the first 4 rows of the jets. I found that was quite reasonably priced compared to a preferred seat on AC or WS, That alone has swayed me to PD for my YYC-YYZ trips.

I'm agnostic on Montreal airports, YUL doesn't have great connections to downtown. At first I thought the new one was a revived Mirabel, that would be a non-starter!

Mirabel was a disaster from the get-go, and interestingly one of the major mitigating factors for Toronto unseating Montreal as Canada�s Financial capitol. Only overseas flights used Mirabel so anyone who�s destination was not Montreal would have to take a bus 50km to Dorval to connect.

This is very much a domestic/reginal airport and much more akin to YTZ than YMX. Though not directly connected to Downtown (yet still easier to get to from Downtown that YUL) it cannot be compared to YMX. DAL & MDW are better examples.

I expect that Transborder flights will be added as happened in YTZ many moons ago.

In what scenario is YHU easier to get to downtown than YUL? It is closer as the crow helicopter flies, but there is no REM, no direct bus, no HOV lane on highway, or any direct highway at all. The Victoria bridge is directional, and it's quite a detour to use the Cartier bridge or Champlain bridge.

I find that while PD may have competitive hard product in Y/Y+, it really isn't competitive to AC overall. When AC delays or cancels my flight, I am automatically rebooked by AC within 15 minutes, and I have the option to change it online. Rebooking on PD isn't as pleasant, and there may not be any good options if you are travelling beyond YTO or YUL.

I still book PD sometime for its direct flights to/from YTZ, or on some routes where it has better schedule than AC, but I am aware that if I am on a complex itinerary and something goes south, I am likely SOL.

It will still take 43 minutes from the Brossard station to the YUL station, and that's assuming the REM is operating. It's reliability makes Metrolinx look like a Japanese Bullet train in comparison.
I doubt anyone with status would change from AC to Porter just to fly from here. As was mentioned earlier YHU is targeted at South Shore residents. If it can take some of the pressure off of YUL, everyone is a winner. Hopefully at some point the regulators will allow some low cost sun destinations. YUL won't miss a few weekly flights to Santa Banane or Mexico. It's ridiculous to force the residents to drive an hour or more to YUL. M YUL can use some extra gate space for new foreign routes which would benefit AC.

It is better to those coming to/from the South Shore, in PQ terms 'that's it, that's all'. It is of no benefit to anyone going to/from Downtown Montreal...I mean come on, even in the worst traffic I've never taken more than 35 - 40 mins in either direction and have made it in 18 mins early on a Sunday morning. Even the whole 'YTZ is so much more convenient if you live DT' is a crock...I'm sure that I would be faster front door to gate from my former home at Yonge + Eglinton to YYZ than YTZ any day of the week, at any time of day.

This is like the case for YHM in the GTA. It has a catchment area of x-million people that are closer to it than YYZ. It's a small, easy airport to navigate with low cost parking. It's all that and, as my PQ friends would say, 'and a bag of chips'...and yet, despite massive efforts and investments over 30 years by many parties it's still pretty much nothing, not putting a 5% dent into YYZ traffic.

Not to mention the published schedule shared in the OP suggests it might be ok for the FOTSG crowd but not at all for the business traveler.

I sincerely hope better luck for YHU, but I expect it will see a similar fate.

Have you driven to YUL recently? People are getting out of cars 3km from the terminal and walking some times of the day.

Appart from that, YHU will have direct shuttles from Metro Longueuil. And looking at goole maps right now, there is a 10 minute advantage driving to YHU over YUL.

Before this veers off completely in to being a general discussion of YHU and the merits of the project, I'll ask that we please try to keep focused on how this relates to AC.

There's a good thread over in the Other North & South American Airlines forum for the broad conversation about whether this is a good idea and so on.

- Your friendly neighborhood moderator