Yesterday afternoon, I attended our local Chamber of Commerce luncheon which the topic of discuss was our local airport and scheduled airline service. Our airport is served by US Airways exclusively with the Dash-8 and the Airport Manager was talking about the decline in turboprops in all the major airline's fleet when someone in the crowd interupted him and said he had read that Continental, or a Continental Connection carrier, was about to announce a large order for the Bombardier Dash-8-400. Anyone have any information about this?
Turboprop Order?
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Flying Titan
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Q400 website
That would be a very interesting move. Currently, CO has a pretty big gap in their fleet. Their largest RJs are 50-seaters and their smallest mainline aircraft are 737s. If they want to fill the gap, a 70-seat aircraft makes a lot of sense. While many of its competitors are turning to the new E170 and the CRJ-700, the new Q400 would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. By all accounts that I've heard the Q400 is much quieter than earlier versions of the Dash-8, is pretty comfortable, and has flight times that are comparable to an RJ on routes that are under 400 miles.
If CO decides to go this route, it will have to overcome the turboprop stigma, but if they can overcome that hurdle, this would be a smart decision.
That would be a very interesting move. Currently, CO has a pretty big gap in their fleet. Their largest RJs are 50-seaters and their smallest mainline aircraft are 737s. If they want to fill the gap, a 70-seat aircraft makes a lot of sense. While many of its competitors are turning to the new E170 and the CRJ-700, the new Q400 would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. By all accounts that I've heard the Q400 is much quieter than earlier versions of the Dash-8, is pretty comfortable, and has flight times that are comparable to an RJ on routes that are under 400 miles.
If CO decides to go this route, it will have to overcome the turboprop stigma, but if they can overcome that hurdle, this would be a smart decision.
Forgot to mention:
Kellner and co were asked about this on the results conference call by one of the analysts. Kellner's response was that they had looked at the 70-90 seaters (implications was certainly jets, not TPs, though I don't remember of he explicitly said this.) He said if they did take either, it would be the 90 seaters and they would be flown by the mainline. No mention of TPs as far as I recall.
Kellner and co were asked about this on the results conference call by one of the analysts. Kellner's response was that they had looked at the 70-90 seaters (implications was certainly jets, not TPs, though I don't remember of he explicitly said this.) He said if they did take either, it would be the 90 seaters and they would be flown by the mainline. No mention of TPs as far as I recall.
Flying Titan
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The E170/190 both seem to be game changers for the 70-90 seat jet segment, but for shorter flights the Q400 makes even more sense - quiet, comfortable, fast, cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. Still it doesn't have the capability of the E-jets, particularly when it comes to longer range flights. I suppose how the aircraft would be used would best determine which is the better fit.
I know there is still a serious turbo-prop stigma, but if the Q400 is as good as advertised, then it would be nice to see one of the majors give it a try.
I know there is still a serious turbo-prop stigma, but if the Q400 is as good as advertised, then it would be nice to see one of the majors give it a try.
Flying Titan said:
Replace the ERJ's with the Q400 on the short haul flights, and instantly you have more ERJ's available for long flights. Problem solved!
Yes, and CO has only themselves to blame for helping to fuel the "all RJ's, all the time" nonsense. I have long ago lost count of the number of ads in NYC from CO beating their chest about their "all jet" fleet. If they are interested in adding a quiet, fuel efficient, less expensive, ATC efficient aircraft type to their fleet, they will have to eat a little crow. But I have faith in the CO spinmasters to make this work if they want in the court of public opinion.
