Flybe close to firming Q400 options!
Join Date: Apr 2004
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I would think that Flybe will do at SEN what they are currently doing at NWI by introducing daily flights to the likes of BHD, EDI and GLA, operated by non based a/c. In time, I think SEN will see based Q400s for the domestic routes and something international like Amsterdam.
Regards
Mike
Regards
Mike
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I can't see any new bases being opened anytime soon. This crewing problem will continue for most of the year.
aeulad - do you have some insider information? Wouldn't surprise me if the company did try and open a new base and crew would be the last to know!
aeulad - do you have some insider information? Wouldn't surprise me if the company did try and open a new base and crew would be the last to know!
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lol no insider information at all. Common sense and also the fact that Flybe. have apparently signed up to develop air services out of Southend. I was just assuming the SEN operation would be similar to the one at Norwich.
Regards
Mike
Regards
Mike
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Today's Brum posts talks of 21 "new" routes from BHX - presumably they mean new routes to take the total to 21?
Also says the 6 146's have been swapped for RJ-100s, and that they are gearing up for a floatation, although I don't think that's anything we haven't heard before.
Also says the 6 146's have been swapped for RJ-100s, and that they are gearing up for a floatation, although I don't think that's anything we haven't heard before.
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Q400
Having had the (mis)fortune to pax onboard SAS Commuters Q400 a couple of times, I've grown to dislike the beast. It's noisy, shaky and downright uncomfortable - compared to a jet that is. I'm not old enough to have spend too much time on turboprops, but have paxed on F-50 and ATRs - they seemed less noisy and shaky. Now a short HAM-CPH run in a Q400 is tolerable, but I've also been subjected to their nastities on flights from 1.5 to 2.0 hours (VIE-CPH), and that's not on. Have even heard rumours that SAS have on occasion flogged them on the ARN-GVA leg, a trip of around 3 hours. On top of the rattle and shake, the seats are cramped and the seat pitch is horrible. They are, for all intents and purposes, far less comfortable than a jet - be it a MD80/737/A32x - and it's hardly as if the airline offers me a discount when they downgrade the service from a jet to a turboprop is it?
I've also had my only two return from airborne experiences happen onboard Q400s - both for false door warning lights. Nothing dramatic at all, but highly inconvenient (and before you flame me, yes, I'd rather they return than carry on with a potentially dangerous fault)
But I'm sure the airlines love them for the speed and low(er) fuel consumption, and since beancounters rule the world there's not much I, as a mere fare paying passenger, have to say.
This latest order from Flybe, won't it make them the biggest operator worldwide of the Q400?
I've also had my only two return from airborne experiences happen onboard Q400s - both for false door warning lights. Nothing dramatic at all, but highly inconvenient (and before you flame me, yes, I'd rather they return than carry on with a potentially dangerous fault)
But I'm sure the airlines love them for the speed and low(er) fuel consumption, and since beancounters rule the world there's not much I, as a mere fare paying passenger, have to say.
This latest order from Flybe, won't it make them the biggest operator worldwide of the Q400?
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DH4
Flip Flop Flyer,
While there may be the odd few who dislike the Q400 for whatever reason, they are few and far between. The majority of pax I have spoken to like flying on the Q400 and some actually prefer it to travelling on the jet.
How you find it noisier than the likes of the ATR/F-50 etc, I am unsure. The DHC-8 'Q' range of aircraft are fitted with the NVS system for reducing cabin noise to levels as good as or better than a regional jet. Occasionally, however all electronic systems crash and have their bad days, I expect you have been unfortunate enough to travel on the Q400 when this system has not been working.
Seat pitch, even in the 78-seat version as adopted by flybe. is still better than that offered by Ryan/easyJ.
The RJ-100's are ex-Turkish Airlines models and will be replacing the 146-200 series aircraft in the fleet.
Tri
While there may be the odd few who dislike the Q400 for whatever reason, they are few and far between. The majority of pax I have spoken to like flying on the Q400 and some actually prefer it to travelling on the jet.
How you find it noisier than the likes of the ATR/F-50 etc, I am unsure. The DHC-8 'Q' range of aircraft are fitted with the NVS system for reducing cabin noise to levels as good as or better than a regional jet. Occasionally, however all electronic systems crash and have their bad days, I expect you have been unfortunate enough to travel on the Q400 when this system has not been working.
Seat pitch, even in the 78-seat version as adopted by flybe. is still better than that offered by Ryan/easyJ.
The RJ-100's are ex-Turkish Airlines models and will be replacing the 146-200 series aircraft in the fleet.
Tri
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The Q400 is an aircraft only an accountant could love.
I'd be interested to meet someone who would rather travel on one than a jet. They are noisy, vibey, cramped, and short on locker space.
Makes a pile of money for their operators though, which is the bottom line these days.
I'd be interested to meet someone who would rather travel on one than a jet. They are noisy, vibey, cramped, and short on locker space.
Makes a pile of money for their operators though, which is the bottom line these days.
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Precisely MOR, and at the end of the day this is what gets the pax lower fares particularly on the thin route like those out of ExT or NWI.
They serve a very valid purpose
They serve a very valid purpose
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They certainly do, and you have to applaud the flybe management for having the courage to go with the Q400. It was a very big risk and it has paid off brilliantly.
Having said that, I doubt that it has much of a future. As soon as a 75 seat jet comes along with similar or better operating specifics, and a similar price, the Q400 is as dead as a dodo. An Embraer 170 perhaps?
Add to that the somewhat unspectacular Q400 order book and... well...
So yes, good job flybe. But speaking as someone who spent a lot of time sitting in the back of a Q400, I have no desire to ever set foot in one again. It is an aircraft you tolerate, rather than enjoy. And the thought of flight longer than an hour, like some of the charters... HELL NO!
Cue all the flybe Q400 pilots defending their aircraft... well one or two usual suspects at least.
Oops - crossed... flybe.com I think you have the wrong person, I don't get the reference to corgis or AB... please explain or perhaps you should PM me!
Having said that, I doubt that it has much of a future. As soon as a 75 seat jet comes along with similar or better operating specifics, and a similar price, the Q400 is as dead as a dodo. An Embraer 170 perhaps?
Add to that the somewhat unspectacular Q400 order book and... well...
So yes, good job flybe. But speaking as someone who spent a lot of time sitting in the back of a Q400, I have no desire to ever set foot in one again. It is an aircraft you tolerate, rather than enjoy. And the thought of flight longer than an hour, like some of the charters... HELL NO!
Cue all the flybe Q400 pilots defending their aircraft... well one or two usual suspects at least.
Oops - crossed... flybe.com I think you have the wrong person, I don't get the reference to corgis or AB... please explain or perhaps you should PM me!
MOR, the Embraer 170 might be preferable from a customer's point of view but the economics of it are nowhere near as good as the Q400. The E170/190 also suffer from another major problem in terms of relatively poor airfield performance - you can get about as far as Cherbourg from Southampton with a full load.
Just to correct one point earlier re the number of RJ100s. THY Turkish ordered nine, but there are only six left as the remaining three were written off during their time with THY in one encounter with a mountain and two runway overruns. They also have three RJ70s but no suggestion of these joining FlyBe, and I would have thought that extremely unlikely if the object of the exercise is to get out of smaller 146/RJ types.
Just to correct one point earlier re the number of RJ100s. THY Turkish ordered nine, but there are only six left as the remaining three were written off during their time with THY in one encounter with a mountain and two runway overruns. They also have three RJ70s but no suggestion of these joining FlyBe, and I would have thought that extremely unlikely if the object of the exercise is to get out of smaller 146/RJ types.