Originally Posted by uvuflier:1149010
Originally Posted by
sandrich
Why dont we just flop them out on the table and measure them already...
To answer your question, yes they are still around.
Beech 1900D Production summary | Airfleets aviation
Most are overseas, but Silver and Great Lakes still have a full fleet of them. Silver is slowly starting to phase some of them out. Other companies like Era and Bering Air utilize them in Alaska.
Getting to the original question then...
What other 19ish seaters were commonly in use?
A quick wikipedia search shows Jetstream, Twin Otter, Dornier 228, Metroliner, EMB110.
I know at least a few of these are now used by cargo companies. Maybe because boxes don't care if the plane is old, loud, and vibrates. So that's probably why they're unpopular with passengers. That and, as already stated, the overhead even for small operators is enormous.
There has to be some sort of profit generated. Otherwise places like Maldivian Air Taxi wouldn't survive on a fleet of Twotters. I know you cant really compare, but I can't imagine the cost of operation varying much between countries. I've been told that even if an EAS leg is empty, the airline still turns a profit.