Originally Posted by
brian_dromey
I think it's being a bit revisionist to say that flyBe 'over ordered'.
Actually I would agree with the sentiment. The 14 E195s were basically a replacement fleet for the old 146s and as a like for like replacement they made a lot of sense with significantly lower fuel burn. Back then a lot of the Embraer work was in and out of LGW and continental European routes out of SOU and EXT. The significant over ordering was for the 175 model which was never a good fit. For years the Q400s had been flying around with a load factor of 60-70 percent on a good day. The fare structure and revenue management was not geared towards filling the aircraft on the day of operation as many of the proper locos do. As pilots we were scratching our heads when we were then told the company was getting 40 odd 175s plus a daft number of options. I am still waiting for anyone to explain up-gauging a fleet when the existing fleet was running somewhere between 30 and 70 percent empty on a normal day. Not alone was there additional unneeded capacity but it came at a 60% higher fuel burn than the dash. Totally daft fleet decision.