Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
There are very, very few Airports that we operate in and out of that a mainline aircraft could not utilize. Mainline aircraft, for the most part, have the excess power to get in and out with impressive loads while we frequently find ourselves weight-restricted.
Look at Orange County, or Roanoke (and the list goes on). Short runways, but always bustling with the likes of UPS/FedEx, WN, UA, DL, US, etc...
Small plane does not always mean access to smaller fields. In all seriousness, our RJ's are far less flexible than their mainline counterparts.
At the smaller airports, it's not generally the
length of the runway that limits the utilization by larger aircraft. The limiting factor tends to be the load-bearing capacity. Regardless of how much power a 757 has, it
will sink in a runway not built to handle its bulk.