How about riding on a very narrow Embraer jet for three hours to or from Phoenix, Arizona? Or in a Canadair CRJ which is barely larger?
My wife flew just one hour in the CRJ (jet) and found it very uncomfortable. Said it was one of the worst flights she has ever had. Many people assume that passengers will avoid such narrow fuselages, if a "mainline' 737/DC-9/Fokker is available. I found the CRJ ok compared to the SF-340, but the seats were not soft and there was probably the same legroom as on a SF-340 turboprop, maybe the same limited head and shoulder room.
Many ignorant pasengers, the 'local yokels', don't quite trust any small plane. Part of this is due to a total lack of information from the airlines and pilot unions. There has never been p.r. material which explains the very reliable turbines in a turboprop (how about shorter takeoff and landing distances in a straight-wing plane?), nor the advantages of flying higher in a turbofan.
But many people, even pilots, claim that the customer is only interested in the price. Who knows the truth?
