Pinnacle to operate Q400's

[Kev3188]

Article here.

 

[exnw]

Article here.

Title of article says 74 seat turboprop. Sounds like
a large aircraft for a turboprop. I thought prop aircraft
had less seating capacity than that.

 

[jenny@nw]

Title of article says 74 seat turboprop. Sounds like
a large aircraft for a turboprop. I thought prop aircraft
had less seating capacity than that.

It's a stretch version of the De Havilland Dash 8. I remember talking to the Marketing manager of one of these airlines who use Dash 8's and he was telling me that "it's the plane of the future!"

You got to be kidding.

You must fly @ lower altitude (if I remember right- please correct me)

It saves gas, consumes less gas than those tiny jets

Plus it takes you LONGER to get there.

Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. I rather fly a jet anyday.

 

[tech2101]

Title of article says 74 seat turboprop. Sounds like
a large aircraft for a turboprop. I thought prop aircraft
had less seating capacity than that.

It's all about cost per seat mile Jenny. You know that passenger comfort or convenience is dead last in consideration for new a/c purchases.

 

[jenny@nw]

It's all about cost per seat mile Jenny. You know that passenger comfort or convenience is dead last in consideration for new a/c purchases.

HEY wait A MINUTE! Isn't this the type of plane that had a nose gear failure someplace? Like a week ago?

Here's a website selling their .... stuff.
http://www.q400.com/q400/en/operators.jsp

 

[PurduePete]

HEY wait A MINUTE! Isn't this the type of plane that had a nose gear failure someplace? Like a week ago?

Hey Jen, you must have been thinking of this incident...

http://www.thestar.com/article/191536

From the article...
The high-profile incident comes on the heels of a string of problems for ANA's fleet of Bombardier-built turboprops, all 13 of which were grounded yesterday for inspection. Japan Airlines Corp. has also had problems with its Bombardier planes. Some reports suggested there have been as many as 72 incidents in Japan involving the Q400 over the past four years, ranging from faulty lighting to more serious landing gear problems.

For that many incidents to happen, either ANA and JAL both have maintenance departments that rival the scab outfit at NW, or the aircraft that NW decided to buy for Pinnacle is junk. I would pick the second option...

 

[flycrazy77]

It's a stretch version of the De Havilland Dash 8. I remember talking to the Marketing manager of one of these airlines who use Dash 8's and he was telling me that "it's the plane of the future!"

You got to be kidding.

You must fly @ lower altitude (if I remember right- please correct me)

It saves gas, consumes less gas than those tiny jets

Plus it takes you LONGER to get there.

Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. I rather fly a jet anyday.

The Q400 is an awesome airplane; speeds comparable to a jet, more room and comfort than any RJ out there, and from a pilots point-of-view, a sweet aircraft to fly. I've jumpseated plenty of times on Horizon's Q400's in the northwest, and the passengers and crews love them. The general public (and plenty of ego-filled "junior-jet" pilots)have no clue what this aircraft can do. Jumpseat on this plane if you can, then come back here and tell me "You got to be kidding". It won't happen.

Yes, this TURBO-PROP is indeed the plane of the future. Guess the RJ guys may have to learn to actually FLY again. 😀

 

[markkus757]

on routes less than 300 miles, these aircraft are both huge money savers while offering almost as much comfort on even a 'mainline' jet. The Q400 (and many other turboprops) is a great aircraft when used correctly...