In 1939, two legendary movies were first released to audiences.
Gone With the Wind gave us Scarlett and Rhett, and almost four hours of war and romance.
The Wizard of Oz charmed the hearts of young and old, as Dorothy discovered home in her heart.

What else happened in 1939?

On February 2, 1939, the first plane landed on the runway at Toronto Island Airport.
Since then, the airport has been in operation. The current fuss is about the formation of an airline that wants to efficiently utilize the existing facilities. Bravo.
There have been planes landing at Toronto Island Airport for 67 years.
In my opinion, a harbor front airport is good for business and good for the city.

Why we need the airport

If Toronto were inside a bubble, the money that everyone had would simply move around. For stability and growth, it is necessary to bring new money into the Toronto region. This primarily occurs in three ways:

     Investment from external sources
     Business travelers
     Tourists

All three of these sources are more likely to come to Toronto if there is an Island airport.
The introduction of new money into the Toronto economy is essential to the economy and to the citizens.

Concerns about Safety

I have heard concerns mentioned about the safety of the new airplanes at the airport, particularly about landing field length. Specifically, the maximum required landing field length of the Bombardier Q400 is 4200 feet, while the Island airport runway is only 4000 feet long.

The Actual Landing Distance of the Bombardier Q400 is about 2000 feet. What happens with the ratings is that various factors are built in to determine the Factored Landing Distance. Influencing factors include number of passengers, weight of plane, amount of extra fuel, distance flown, sea level altitude of airport, air temperature, and visibility. Also, landing techniques influence the distance, such as whether the wing flaps are at full or partial extension. As each one changes, the projected landing length changes.

In addition, the final answer is increased by 60% (multiply by 1.6) to build in extra safety conditions. The field length of 4200 is calculated using maximum everything, which would never really occur. For example, that calculation includes a sea-level altitude of 2500 feet (thin air) while the Island Airport is at 200 feet above sea level (higher air pressure equals shorter landing). The Air Canada pilot who spoke to me has landed similar planes at the Island Airport, and indicated that there were no safety concerns with landing field length. Bombardier told me the same thing. The bottom line is that flight regulations are very strict, and extreme safety factors are built in.