I hope people from Aer Arann look at these forums as I think ManxMan11's comments taken at face value are a bit worrying.
Personally I have flown on the older ATR 42s a fair amount, they're not pretty that's for sure, but they work hard. Aer Arann does have a good product when all the bits fit together, my last flight with them in June picked up a small delay but the crew were excellent and the flight was fine, albeit they ran out of sandwiches on board
Does anyone know if the RE ATR72 from air contractors has ever been used on the IOM routes? EI-SLM the one with the hideous green livery (not aerlingus) just wondered if that was any more like the factory new aircraft that have been moved to the franchise ops? EI-SLM is a much newer plane.
RE have said that 1 42 is coming out of the fleet at end of august.. according to another site they still have 4 x factory build 72's on order and 1 x 72 due from air contractors.
I've watched the airline industry for a long time and its never nice to see operations with delays. I think RE have a good team and I've only ever experienced courtesy and friendly crew - genuinely. Unlike my first flight with Flybe on 14th August, the cabin crew were as miserable as sin, probaly the worst I've come across on any airline, yet on the return flight yesterday the crew were fantastic, some of the best - with clear audible announcements, flight status updates and very helpful and friendly cabin.
I find it interesting to read the experiences of regular service users. I actually thought on the flight out that if this is typical flybe crew then it sets a bad impression, luckily enough my perceptions have been changed. Hopefully ManxMan11's experiences will change in future too, especially if the service is more convenient (without delays) for him.