Jerboy,
Yes, the Q400 is a great low cost airframe, but with the market on the Island, and all over the UK, it's extrememly difficult to make money during the winter months.
You get more tech issues, delays due to weather that require additional costs of vouchers, nightstops, etc, and also this winter, the huge volumes of de-icing fluid used also has to be paid for.
Add to that the light loads and poor yields as companies chase any pasengers they can get and the overall picture is that all companies build cash reserves over the summer months and eat into them over the third and mainly forth quarter of operations.
Those that haven't done well enough to save their pennies really suffer in October/November when the economics really bite- hence that time being the most popular for airlines to fail.
Thinking ANY company makes money over the lean winter months is a bit naive....it just isn't so.
Companies can mittigate losses, by cutting their cloth accordingly- some cut frequency and alter routes to better fit capacity, others put most of their crews on crap contracts so they can leave them at home unpaid or on forced leave...Some move their spare capacity to the Southern Hemisphere if they can to fololow the seasonal work.
Whatever it takes. Losing out in the summer harvest to a competitor is no option though.