Aviation Business: Turboprops to compete in the 100-seat-plus market?
It's a matter of numbers.
The Fokker does no doubt a sterling job on the mining runs (couple sectors a day) but wouldn't handle the 24 hour schedule of the mainline fleet.
As a mate of mine who flies them says : it's a dinosaur, guzzles fuel, breaks down if pushed. Reckons it has some nice features but is pretty gutless. As for aerodynamics, I noted the wing looks more like a turbo prop wing (no sweep and fat). Old tech.
With fuel prices heading north the future would have to be a 90-100 seat turbo prop. Numbers. Exactly why ATR got the go ahead in the first place.