Mr LOSTPROPERTY has obviously never run an airline. Markets like Mt Isa-Brisbane etc are very thin pax wise. In the past Isa was served as a stop en-route Brisbane-Darwin with B727's. The numbers don't work on a 180 seat jet like a B738 and the fare structure relates to the costs. Newish or new aircraft costs many multiples of an F100 for example. Who pays?