topend3: I agree. I reckon I could do a better job at being minister for transport haha. Nah not really - but maybe minister for aviation.
But fair dinkum - Chair Sniffer Buswell has no idea about aviation.
The Brasilia is not that similiar to an F50. The Braz carries has 30 seats while the F50 has a maximum of 58 seats (high density). However standard seating is 50 seats with Skywest configuiring the F50 to have 46 seats.
The F50 is more like a comfortable turboprop - better leg room than the Braz and also a lot quieter. Ive heard from a few mates of mine who fly Skippers that the Cabin Crew offer the passengers ear plugs as the noise is quiet loud - I wasn't offered ear plugs on my flight.
The only good thing about the Braz is that its 30-50 knots quicker than the F50.
Apart from the difference in aircraft, the Skippers service is there or there abouts when comparing the service to Skywest. Only thing is that they don't serve food which as shame and Skywest's catering was pretty good.
Skippers have the same airfares as Skywest. I paid $300 to CVQ and back to Perth. I still think Skywest is slightly better.
I prefered going on the 36-seat Dash 8 when I came back to Perth a few days ago. I found the Dash 8 better than the Braz - more comfortable
thats for sure.
The only other thing different also was that Skippers have a baggage allowance of 23kg whereas Skywest had 20kg. So I guess that's handy.
Cheers,
Saintly.