tasdevil,
I think your statement that everyone on the LST route is struggling is not correct. I would hazard a guess that QLINK courtesy of the Q400 would be making a packet out of it. That machine is a licence to print money, and a close friend of mine who is in the know WRT operating costs of the Q400 told me that it has a break even load factor of @ 19 pax.
QF crunched the numbers on the E170 and couldn't get it within a bulls roar of the Q400. Now
VB are looking at unloading the E170 as it is too expensive to operate and can't compete head to head with the 400.
Take it from me, the ML-LT-ML Dash8 service is very well patronised and loads are very healthy. I used to do it for a number of years.