Gaunty,
You're off the mark old chap. It wasn't the mines that chose to go FIFO: it was the government of the day (can't remember which ones were in power at the time, the communists or the facists) that introduced FBT that stuffed the local communities, since subsidised housing and the rest was deemed a FB and so evrybody pulled the pin back to the big smoke (or so an old mate of mine says).
Likewise, Skippers shouldn't cop any blame for the RPT dilemma Skywets is in. Look at their flight line: 3Braz, 2D8, 5?death pencils and a whole squadron of turbo cesspits, none of which are RPT (as far as I know). Both companies deserve a go, but I don't think you can blame Skippers for the demise of remote communities: they have merely responded to the current market, just as Skywest have just done.
Just got my Flight mag with a colour pic of Alliances' F100: what a fantastic-looking jet! It'll really annoy the hell out of me to see them outside TCAS range above and going at .75! Mongrels!