Originally Posted by
flyingice
Horizon has the Q400 operation down to an art, and they make Alaska a lot of money. OO does not have CAT III, which is VITAL to the SEA, PDX, and GEG shuttle markets, nor RNP .1, which is becoming more and more crucial throughout the AS and QX system, especially with QX moving up into AK. When you combine the Q400's fuel burn and speed on routes under 500nm, there is nothing that can currently beat it on the numbers side, and OO--and every other RJ regional--has nothing in their arsenal that would be competitive. The Q400 isn't going away.
Sorry dude.
I know QXers love to beat their CATIII drum but.....
There is a reason we ripped the HUDs out of all of our Alaska 700's when we got them, it doesn't pencil out. Our chief did the math and the times you can get in CATIII vs CATII is so slim that it doesn't even come close to justifing the outrageous expense to maintain those systems.