Originally Posted by RJ85FO
The airplane remains very popular in Europe. NWA (largely because of scope) had the aircraft configured with only 69 seats for Mesaba. Economics of 4 engines burning roughly 5000 pph with only 69 seats did not make sense. A lot of us thought that NWA may work out something to continue to operate that aircraft with closer to the full compliment of 112 seats (85 seats is comfortable) and the aircraft would be quite profitable in that configuration and still able to serve the lucrative Aspen market.
yeah, I was thinking the same thing when I saw it at the gate, that it held maybe only seventy seats and had four engines. I could be off base in saying this but I thought to myself that its wonder there in bankruptcy flying small four engine aircraft that burn fuel like that. Isn't that why AWAC got rid of there BAE 146's.