SH
The regulars out of DPO are getting quite used to the Q400 which does around 2 thirds of the flights out of DPO appreciate the extra speed compared to the older Dashes
Not entirely sure about that. It's around 50:50 Dash8 300 vs Q400 to DPO, and the "commuter" flights (QLK 50/51 and 58/61) are almost all Dash-8 300's.
I agree with your Mildura comments; the main reason that DJ aren't getting good loads into and out of Mildura is that there is only one flight per day. DJ didn't want to overnight an a/c due engineering requirements. If they had, they'd have had much better loads, IMHO.