I wish more capts here thought the same way you do! Some do this and this can work pretty nice as long as your not MST status.....and everyone is at the gate ready to go. Leave early..5-10 mins.......pull the power back in cruise (a few % on the torque's) and arrive on time. We all get paid a few extra $ and it usually saves a bit on the gas. So far I have always been able to come in under avg fuel burn doing this. However, we never screw the Pax! Jay, I hope I get to fly with you someday before I transition out of FAT. We will be making a few extra mins on our trip! :D

Fuel Prices Make Airlines' Small Jets Obsolete?

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/turboprop_takeoff.jpg"The (regional jet) era is over," according to aviation consulting firm The Boyd Group. A report released by the company runs contrary to some forecasts by predicting that instead of a surge in the use of aircraft with fewer than 50 seats the industry will instead see accelerated retirements of about 900 of those aircraft within the next five years as carriers favor mid-sized designs that champion fuel economy. The Boyd Group's conclusions are based at least in part on its interpretation of the impact of record-high fuel costs and potential economic recession and existing fleets' incompatibility with those external forces -- specifically RJ-sized aircraft. Medium-range aircraft with 75-125 seats will make up 40 percent of some 14,000 aircraft forecast to be put into service, according to the firm's report. In that case, Embraer, with mid-size offerings, is currently among the head of the field of potential winners, as there are few high-efficiency mid-sized offerings in the pipeline, according to Boyd. Major carriers like United and American that run a wider gap between the smaller and larger aircraft in their fleets would stand to lose the most.

on a deadhead out of DTW in the saab, the crew fires up #2 and pushes. As we begin the push, several different people "Oh my God, why is there only one engine spun up? Is this normal? Is the other engine turning, no its not!" The Capt and I just smiled.

Im sure you also hear the "is this plane safe" questions when you deadhead

What the heck is up with people. EVERY OTHER TURN people make that exact comment. One day im going to have to jump out of the flight deck look at number one not running and say..."woah, thanks for catching that, could have been bad".
Alot of anxiety about flying i guess. But hey it is our darling saab isnt it.

one FA i know told the pax that we werent going to use that engine to save fuel during the flight

When people ask, I usually just say, oh I fly for NWA, airlink then the follow up, oh of course I flew NWA recently... But I had a connecting flight on this tiny little red thing with propellors that was so noisy and bumpy, and just horrible. So what do you fly?

We're talking about passengers who get on an 318, 319, or 320 or even a 737 and complain. Unless you're flying on a 777 or A380 between Denver and Garden City, KS, it's an uncomfortable and unsafe ride according to them.

I'm sorry ma'am, they had to pull the 747 off of the Toledo Ohio flight to go to Narita. The other morning in Saginaw I walked past a gate with a DC9, a gate with a CRJ and to a stand for the Saab that they had to borrow a GPU from SKW so we could start. I looked at my captain and was like, ya know having to walk past both these gates, these pax are gonna be p*ssed.

Well, I hope they have to add a slide,then! The FO is supposed to open the R2 door during an evac, and 90% of them can't even reach the door from the ground!