Full of Foehn

Does anybody know why Bearskin phased out their PC-12s? Was it operational, insurance, economics, etc?

Thanks,
FoF

I am Birddog

Show me how you can turn a profit with a 4-5 million dollar 9 seat aircraft that requires a cheque for 100K everytime a TV burns out, and I'll answer your question.

Full of Foehn

Thanks for you informative answer. By the way, a fully equipped PC-12 costs $3.2 million ($4.1 million Canadian) and $100K would replace all of the EFIS tubes (if Bearskin was so equipped).

As for turning a profit, why buy them in the first place if won't turn a profit? It's not like there are any hidden costs associated with the purchase or operation of a PC-12. And the expensive avionics can be under warranty for as long as seven years.

I am Birddog

Hey I am glad you feel my post was informative...I'm always here to help my fellow airplane people.

I should have converted the currency to US funds...again 4-5 million CANADIAN is the price tag...not including the taxes and training costs for crew, engineers, parts spare in stores, I'm not that smart of a guy as you just pointed out, but I read somewhere that airplane costs soar very fast...I'll try to dig up where I read that...(I hope I am not talking (writing) too fast...lemme know and I'll turn it down a notch for ya.)

Kelner did a good job of showing, via charts and graphs, that a company can turn a profit with this type of hardware with only 9 seats. I have never seen it, however it seems like it convinced the good folks @ Bearskin Airlines that it can work. For a Canadian company operating out of gravel strips with a specific clientele...I am not sure what the true outcome made the 'bean counter' decide it would be better to pull the aircraft than continue to have them in their fleet...

Perhaps Wasaya's involvement in acquiring their routes that were sold to them by 'The Bear' precipitated the liquidation of the PC12's owned/leased by Bearskin. Either way, it's not my area, only my speculation...I wish I could be more informative...sorry about that...I hope this post helps you.

hibypassratio

I haven't seen numbers myself, however this is the jist of what I've heard: The PC12 is great while under warranty. When the warranty is up, you better have deep pockets. There are a number of items such as flaps and landing gear that have rather low cycle limits. If the aircraft is averaging 2 hour hops, it's not too bad, the numbers can work. If the hops are averaging around an hour, the increase in cycles creates a ballooning maintenance bill.

If you don't have to carry that kind of load and are looking for a corporate runabout, I think the TBM700 is the better airplane. Faster, more fuel efficient, and maintenance guys tell me it is built like a tank. That may have to do with the fact that Socata makes a lot of components for Dassault/Falcon and Airbus.

However, I digress.