Airline's process of aircraft selection

The article below says Flybe stopped flying 112-seat BAe 146-300 jets
to Guernsey last month and introduced 74-seat Q400 turboprops instead.
The interesting thing is that Flybe originally wanted to use 112-seat
Embraer 195 on that route but decided against it.

http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Fl...le-210278.html

I am wondering if it is the case of reducing capacity from 112 to 74
per flight despite continued demand or whether just changing to a more
suitable aircraft to increase the route's load factor.

Generally, what is the process of aircraft selection?

"Sunho" wrote in message
...
The article below says Flybe stopped flying 112-seat BAe 146-300 jets
to Guernsey last month and introduced 74-seat Q400 turboprops instead.
The interesting thing is that Flybe originally wanted to use 112-seat
Embraer 195 on that route but decided against it.

http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Fl...le-210278.html

I am wondering if it is the case of reducing capacity from 112 to 74
per flight despite continued demand or whether just changing to a more
suitable aircraft to increase the route's load factor.

Generally, what is the process of aircraft selection?

These days, it is primarily fuel consumption and what's most necessary to
remain profitable. On short hauls, propjets are generally much more
efficient than pure jets, and the Q400 is about as efficient as they get . .
... Thus the choice of the Q-400 on this route.

Jeff

On Nov 18, 7:09*am, "Jeff Hacker" wrote:
"Sunho" wrote in message

...

The article below says Flybe stopped flying 112-seat BAe 146-300 jets
to Guernsey last month and introduced 74-seat Q400 turboprops instead.
The interesting thing is that Flybe originally wanted to use 112-seat
Embraer 195 on that route but decided against it.

http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Fl...le-210278.html

I am wondering if it is the case of reducing capacity from 112 to 74
per flight despite continued demand or whether just changing to a more
suitable aircraft to increase the route's load factor.

Generally, what is the process of aircraft selection?

These days, it is primarily fuel consumption and what's most necessary to
remain profitable. *On short hauls, propjets are generally much more
efficient than pure jets, and the Q400 is about as efficient as they get .. .
.. *Thus the choice of the Q-400 on this route.

Jeff

OK, then would airlines welcome a new 120-seat turboprop if a
manufacturer decides to make one?
For instance, a new 120-seat turboprop will provide enough capacity
for the route once served by the 112-seat BAe 146-300.

Sunho wrote:

OK, then would airlines welcome a new 120-seat turboprop if a
manufacturer decides to make one?
For instance, a new 120-seat turboprop will provide enough capacity
for the route once served by the 112-seat BAe 146-300.

Turboprops used to be significantly slower. The Dash-8 Q-400 has
narrowed the gap somewhat with better propellers and has lowered noise
levels in the cabin.

The Bae146 was a quiet aircraft, but it was a 4 engine jet aircraft
which had high maintenance costs compared to a 2 engine turboprop.

Turboprops are competitive with jets on shorter flights where the flight
time diference can be minimal (sometimes turboprops may be faster
because they can use less congested shorter runways).

And turboprops end up costing a lot less on short haul flights than jets.

FlyBe being a low cost operator, the arrival of the Dash-8-400 provided
a means to lower costs while maintaining good comfort level (and greatly
reducing carbon footprint).

The dash-8-400 is a stretched version of the -300 which was itself a
stretched over the original -100 (-200 was the same, but different
performance).

There are no modern turboprop designa stretcheable to the 110
seatcategory. So it would cost a lot of money to build one from scratch.


Also, Flybe needs to look at its average load factor and cities served.
If the 70 seat aircraft is right for the majority fo its routes, it
simplifies its fleet management greatly to use the same aircraft, even
on a few routes, a bigger aircraft could be used.