ATR-72 in SBY

[FM2436]

At this moment a ATR-72 is sitting on Piedmont's SBY maintenance ramp for Demo later today. Early this year US Airways annouced it's intension to upgrade Piedmont's turboprop fleet. Maybe US Airways and Piedmont are serious about a 68-72 passenger truboprop upgrade. I'd attach a picture if I knew how.

 

[FM2436]

View attachment 6476

OOOOOOOH. Here's a picture

 

[WSurf]

At this moment a ATR-72 is sitting on Piedmont's SBY maintenance ramp for Demo later today. Early this year US Airways annouced it's intension to upgrade Piedmont's turboprop fleet. Maybe US Airways and Piedmont are serious about a 68-72 passenger truboprop upgrade. I'd attach a picture if I knew how.

Yes, It is doing a 20 City sales run across North America! They are trying to drum up some sales to help catch Bombardier's Q400's!

Remember US Airways wants new Large Turbo Props, and we usually go for all the cheap sh$t at US Airways! That being said, and they are 5 million dollars cheaper then the Q400! Look out!

 

[john john]

Are they weight sensitive like the rest of the old age props?

 

[WSurf]

Are they weight sensitive like the rest of the old age props?

Talking to the ASA operators, they seem to love flying the plane! Many at ASA don't want to get rid of them! Because you can carrier a full boat, gas, bag and she will go. So there isn't much of restrictions on this thing!

www.atr.fr

 

[Revolutions]

Wow! Kingfisher only operates in India. US is getting A/C from the third world--and they are no doubt lightyears cleaner and more comfortable than what US operates.

Last time I flew turboprop in India from Bangalore to Hyderabad (about 400 miles) and received a hot breakfast on JetAirways

 

[LGA777]

Here is a recent interior photo of a KingFisher ATR-72, very plush for a Turboprop and note the small drop down video screens !

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6074729

For those not familiar with Kingfisher they are a FIRST CLASS operation big time and even have A-380's on order. For those a little more curious check this out, very impressive airline and their getting rave reviews !

http://www.flykingfisher.com/experience.asp

How bout those flight attendant uniforms ? very impressive. And those big First Class seats are from the A-320/321.

Anyway to get back on topic I have flown on the ATR-72 around 4 times and what impressed me the most was Eagle twice SJU-SXM and SJU-SDQ. Both times full boat, lots of BIG Domincan bags and everything went including lots of carry-ons. And despite the tropical climate the cabin was reasonably comfortable on the ground.

My 2 cents

LGA777

 

[Benz M-100]

The 72s that I've ridden on years ago (also on Eagle) were VERY comfortable AND errily quiet with the active noise reduction and tricked-out props...almost as quiet as an MD80. There were big cubbyhole baggage slots in the rear of the cabin that could accomodate rollerboards and the bins were large enough for a flight-kit sized bag. Thios led to far fewer bags needing to be gate checked as carry on and allowed for faster deplaning.

Overall, as a pilot-passenger, I was impressed with this airplane. Don't know about it's speed capabilities, but for short flights with heavier passenger loads, it seems almost perfect. It's unfortunate that the Roselawn accident tainted this airplane (possibly forever), because it makes FAR more sense than RJs on MANY routes.

The icing problem that is cited as the primary cause for the Roselawn accident resulted in mods to the de icing boots and possibly procedural changes as well. I'd ride in one in a hearbeat in spite of the weather assuming there is a competent crew up front.

JMHO

 

[Elevation]

Yes, It is doing a 20 City sales run across North America! They are trying to drum up some sales to help catch Bombardier's Q400's!

Remember US Airways wants new Large Turbo Props, and we usually go for all the cheap sh$t at US Airways! That being said, and they are 5 million dollars cheaper then the Q400! Look out!

The ATR is not a bad plane but the Q400 also has it share of problems.

 

[PHX PHLyer]

I don't think that American Eagle has the newer 500 versions. Eagle's versions would be comparable to a Dash 8-300 (that is not a Q). Not necessarily bad, but the 500 upgrade is awesome. I flew an Air Botswana ATR 42-500 over the summer and it had amazing climb performance, great speed, and was literally so quiet that you felt like the engines weren't moving. I have been on the older ATR versions and thought they were very loud and didn't really care for it all that much, but the 500 was amazing. Loved every minute of it. And I like boarding through the rear of the airplane!

 

[FM2436]

Interesting specification and performance figures comparing the Q400 and the ATR-72

The Q-400 is by far the larger and faster aircraft.

Q400
Wing Span 93 ft
Overall Length 107 ft
Max Cruise speed 360 kts

ATR-72
Wing Span 88 ft
Overall Length 89 ft
Max Cruise Speed 276 kts

Sources:

http://www.q400.com/q400/en/specifications.jsp

http://www.atr.fr/public/atr/html/products...cts.php?aid=506

 

[Travelpro72]

Yes indeed. Wasn't the Q400 just temporarily grounded after a few main landing gear collapsed? The last one to happen was caught on video. Having flown as a passenger on the ATR-72, it's my opinion that it would make a great addition to our fleet no doubt. I do think the Q400 is a beautiful bird though.

 

[SegmentKing]

ATR-72 is a nice plane... I've never felt very comfortable in them, but I'm also a bit larger than most people.

I've trecked all over Florida in American Eagle's birds and they have 2 versions (A and B), with B being the newer models. While its an impressive aircraft, they still take some weight hits on shorter runs... we used to help them out every now and then out of Key West as they rarely took a full load - not sure if that's due to our 4800 runway or not - or because their planes had to take an extra hour of fuel due to the Duval 1 approach - which threw them right into the bad weather over the swamp. Luckily most of their hits were only 2 - 6 passengers... nothing like other guys who were yanking 20 folks off of a jet (while our MDA guys took 72 pax and 120 bags!).

From a ground perspective, the Q400 has a few advantages - dual door boarding, APU, 2 cargo pits with real access. The ATR's major fault is the rear cargo bin requires you to load thru the right door.

 

[PA18]

The icing problem that is cited as the primary cause for the Roselawn accident resulted in mods to the de icing boots and possibly procedural changes as well. I'd ride in one in a hearbeat in spite of the weather assuming there is a competent crew up front.

JMHO

Isn't the Roselawn accident -- and similar accidents in Europe -- the reason that AA pretty much banished the ATR to the SJU hub?

ATR -- Don't fly in ice.

Q400 -- Don't try to land. (At least with the gear extended. Belly landings are authorized. And apparently safer.)

 

[USstew23]

I don't think that American Eagle has the newer 500 versions. Eagle's versions would be comparable to a Dash 8-300 (that is not a Q). Not necessarily bad, but the 500 upgrade is awesome. I flew an Air Botswana ATR 42-500 over the summer and it had amazing climb performance, great speed, and was literally so quiet that you felt like the engines weren't moving. I have been on the older ATR versions and thought they were very loud and didn't really care for it all that much, but the 500 was amazing. Loved every minute of it. And I like boarding through the rear of the airplane!

Yes, Eagle has the newer version (72-500), the most noticable difference on the outside is the blades.