American Airlines has a new North American partner.
The Fort Worth-based airline on Monday announced a new codeshare agreement with Porter Airlines, a Canadian carrier with a fast-growing network of flights on brand-new planes.
As part of the arrangement, travelers will be able to earn and redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles on certain Porter flights and earn Loyalty Points toward elite status. American loyalists will be able to book seamless connections between the two airlines via Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) through the carrier’s website and mobile app.
The setup should allow new opportunities for AAdvantage members to earn and redeem miles (and earn loyalty credit) on flights to popular Canadian destinations like Halifax in Nova Scotia, St. John’s in Newfoundland and Vancouver in British Columbia.
The new tie-up will easily be American’s deepest with another North American carrier aside from Alaska Airlines, its Oneworld alliance partner.
“Canada is one of the most popular destinations for travelers, and American is excited to partner with Porter Airlines to unlock more travel options for customers,” Anmol Bhargava, American’s senior vice president of global alliances, said in a statement Monday.
What to know about Porter Airlines
Porter has been growing its network with a new fleet of Embraer E195-E2 planes — regional-size jets with a pseudo-premium cabin experience, including beer and wine served in glassware and free Wi-Fi for all passengers.
The carrier’s partnership with American isn’t its first with a U.S. airline: Notably, Porter is less than two years into a loyalty tie-up with Alaska via the Toronto-based carrier’s network of flights to and from the West Coast.
How the new American-Porter partnership works
Right away, American flyers will be able to connect to Porter in Toronto to reach the following Canadian destinations:
- Edmonton, Alberta
- Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Winnipeg, Manitoba
In the coming weeks, the partnership will open up several additional Canadian destinations: Calgary, Alberta; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Kelowna and Vancouver, British Columbia; St. John’s, Newfoundland; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Porter’s frequent flyers will also benefit from the new partnership. The carrier will sell codeshare itineraries through several of American’s largest hubs and eventually offer connections to the U.S. carrier’s extensive Caribbean, Central America and South America network.
Once a smaller boutique airline, Porter has grown its fleet, route network and relevance to cross-border travelers in recent years. Even as travel demand between the U.S. and Canada fell in 2025, the airline was set to offer 24% more total seats between the two countries than it did in 2024, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Porter’s 2025 seats between Canada and the U.S. were on track to be up 125% over 2023.
Bottom line
We should note: Porter’s ballooning U.S. route network won’t help American flyers through this tie-up since the arrangement focuses on flights in and out of Toronto.
However, the two carriers said they “will continue to evaluate opportunities to expand this relationship further” with more codeshare destinations and loyalty benefits — the latter perhaps a way to extend added perks to AAdvantage elite members aboard Porter.
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