PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - DJ Turboprops announced in Skywest tie up
Old 23rd Feb 2011, 15:37
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puff
 
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ATR is an interesting choice - be interesting to see if they go for the optional APUs or stick with the prop brake 'hotel' system.

Speed of the ATR certainly might be an issue in QLD on routes such as BNE-LRE thats for sure, enjoy your wider cabin because you'll be sitting in it longer ! Be interesting to see how they market against QFlink as well, with things like free grog on PM flights on QFlink, and the 'fastest' aircraft mantle that QFlink will be able to throw at them. You would have thought taking Q400s and trying to entice Qflink drivers over with more money to create a disturbance to QFlink by 'poaching' their pilots would have been an interesting ploy as well. Some of this still may go on - but would have been easier with ready trained and endorsed and somewhat unhappy Q400 guys sitting at QFlink.

Parking certainly will become interesting in BNE especially, QF spent a lot upgrading the regional apron, the old Ansett apron has been turned into 2 parking bays for E-Jets, certainly not a lot of room around the place, nor a 'regional' area anymore in the old gate 49 area, also an area where QF has spent a lot of money down at their end of the terminal.

1a - DJ really seemed to believe that passengers would flock to a 'jet' if it was being flown against a prop, sadly I think they failed to realise that most people have NO IDEA of the difference between a Q400 or a E-Jet, and they simply don't care if it results in them saving $2 on the fare. Even chockers the E-Jet wouldn't be making anything like the money a 3/4 full Q400 would be making - sadly DJ didn't learn from the Ansett disaster that was the Kendell CRJ-200s, both just not suitable for Australia, which the history books will now show.
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