......but thankfully not as densely populated as most third world countries. There is the rub - with not enough people to move around, how do operators generate enough revenue to afford the good gear? Without gouging the poor mugs who need to fly regardless of the service and equipment on offer.
Should the taxpayer fund unprofitable routes via subsidies? Maybe that would be a way for Mum & Pop Airlines to upgrade to Wunderjets, simultaneously allowing the Directors (Mum & Pop, of course) to have new boats and cars - but not with my taxes, thank you. A subject in itself.
At reasonably-affordable airfares, even a written-down Metro must be a marginal proposition unless it is nearly full on every sector. As for the 'toy airliner' B1900 - these things will be dead sooner than any Metro, so why would anyone invest in them, unless no Metros can be had? Besides, anything as ugly as that has to be high maintenance (do LAMEs perform cosmetic surgery?).
I will sit in the back of a well-maintained and professionally-flown Metro any day - if that is what it takes to get me where I need to go. Island communities better hope that there will still be Metros available in the used market with useful hours remaining on the airframes for many more years. If they whine about the lack of comfort, they need to ponder the fact that their only other affordable alternative has a cruise speed of about 20 knots.
Yeah yeah, I know all about certification and performance margins and accept that there is an elevated risk with the older standards. But not as bad a risk as a DC3, which - love it as I do - I most emphatically would NOT fly in as a pax. Yet many would.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 5th Jun 2013 at 05:07.