I used to fly EAS out in the midwest.

Outside of phesant season, on a good day, we'd have 3-5 people.

Was there a time, during regulation, that small communities needed subsidizing...sure, before the Interstate Highway system. Two of the three markets we served were 60 and 90 minutes, down a nice, clean, modern Interstate, from a city with air carrier servce....and that was if you drove a pokey old 60 MPH.

OTOH, there probably are places with a legitimate need. The other city we served was to hell and gone off the interstate, and was an honest 2:30 on two lane roads. But, ironically, that was the station with the fewest pax. So go figure.

The "RJ Revolution" was bad for a LOT of reasons. It schnookered a lot of companies into thinking that an RJ can be run for the same price as a BE-1900, and a lot of communities thought that's what they'd be getting.

A 12-15 CASM doesn't cut it in those places when you board 3 out of 19, let alone 3 out of 50. Major partners don't want their name on a small turboprop. Airlines who KNEW how to run them, got forced into huge RJ fleets, and left the TPs as an afterthought that got cut first when times got tough.

You need something for the rural markets that's NOT expensive. Unfortunately, there isn't anything. Beech no longer makes the 99 or the 1900, Cessna doesn't make the 402 and Piper doesn't make the Navajo. All of which were PERFECT for the markets they served.


Nu