Quote:
Originally Posted by stazzy33
Hmm that's very cool! Thanks for the response!
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To add to that.
The planes likely under consideration for Encore would have been
Dash 8 - 400 (prop)
ATR-500 (prop)
CRJ-700 (jet)
ERJ-175 (jet)
Prop vs Jet - basically the >100 seat jet was all the craze in the early 90s with airlines thinking people wanted to get to their destination fast and the passengers overall impression that jets were "safer" than propeller planes.
About 8-10 years ago when WJ was pondering a smaller bird than 150 seats Embraer even flew a demonstration one up but nothing came from it as WJ decided to go with the 736 (a heavier bird one that on its own has been a commercial failure for Boeing with very few numbers ever sold) because WJ decided that keeping 1 aircraft family was less expensive than introducing a completely new model that would have required different training and mtce etx.
Prop vs Prop - this is likely the only real discussion WJ had
Dash 8 (prop plane)
ATR-500 (prop plane)
Dash 8 vs ATR-500
Both are prop planes, ATR is a very popular model and ATR list price is less expensive. Its not known what WJ is paying for the D8 (I guess if you comb though their financials you could figure it out) but my guess is Bombardier gave them a good enough deal and WJ decided that supporting a Canadian company would likely help them more than a slightly reduced purchase price of the ATR.
Based on 512 nm route
ATR: 590 kg/hr *5,5 Hours /74people = 4,38 kg/pax
Dash: 720 kg/hr * 4,75 hours /78 people = 4,38 kg/pax
Example YYC-PDX is 549nm (likely the max distance they would fly the D8 from YYC
Great article on comparing the 2 from an Indian carrier - great read if interested in economics of operating an aircraft.
http://theflyingengineer.com/aircraf...q400-vs-atr72/
I think where you will really see the D8-400 choice really show its superiority is when WJ decided to transition to a biz oriented airline (probably 10 years away) when you will see YYZ and YUL routes to IAD, ORD, JFK etc.
A few other things the D8 has going for it. Its speed is probably its biggest advantage and one that allows the shorter length routes to be more viable than a smaller jet. Also its lighter, and alot of landing airport landing and gate fees are less expensive for smaller and lighter aircraft.