Commercial turboprop planes in U.S?

What type and size of aeroplane an airline uses is based purely on economics.

The management do many many calculations to come up with the best configuration for a specific route.

- Passenger load, busy times and corresponding higher loads.

- Turn around time for the aeroplane - how long does it have to stay at the gate before leaving again.

- Service time, how often do they need to be gassed up and what is the cost of flying with extra fuel in the tanks.

- Total flight time used, the longer the more crew-salary to be paid. A jet is less costly here, because it flies about 30 % faster.

And, of course, over all, the net fuel cost for any given period. Fuel is the costliest part of any airline operation. From a purely fuel consumption view, turboprops are still slightly cheaper on a cost per passenger mile basis than jets. Therefore, when all of these factors are brought together, you can get an idea of what "should be flying" for you.

There are probably just as many turbo-props on short runs this year as a few years ago, but you may just happen to be on routes which are served by smaller jets.

There is no sharp dividing line where one is better than the other. Some airlines run only turboprops, even on rather long distances. They may be driven by the extra savings allowed them by only having one type of planes to service and maintain and one classification for their crews, all planes are alike. Look at the hugely successful Porter Airways, serving eastern North America out of a small in-city airport, located downtown Toronto. All their planes are one single turbo prop model from Bombardier, serviced from one rather smallish maintenance building on the airport property. That maintenance arrangement must save lots of money, there is no need to take a plane out of service for long to fly to any far-away centralized service shop.

So, summarizing, what you fly is a function of economics, not weather your airline likes one type over another, in particular.

They are not as fast as fanjets. They are a little bit more fuel efficient, and some airlines such as Horizon do use them a lot.

http://www.martingrumet.com/alaska14nov10-01seattl...