JustinS said:
I think it has to do with multi engine ops being a safety barrier for operations in mountainous areas....
True. Mountains bend metal.
... Not to mention 121 requires multi engine aircraft and that's what Great Lakes mostly is / used to be.
No longer true, as of the last Fed'l authorization bill.
The proposal from an airline for EAS service (a two-year contract) specifies the aircraft, number of flights, etc. To change mid-contract would require approval of the EAS troops, but in these cases - that or nothing - would probably be approved. GLA lists 6 Embraer 120s and 28 B-1900Ds in the fleet. Nothing with a single engine, and it would be iffy for them to be able to start-up another aircraft type (financing or lease; FAA approvals of the infrastructure, which take an inordinant amount of time; training, etc.) right now. Only way would be to buy a smaller airline (!) or code-share down with one. No one in that position would want to try it, since they want to pick up the shards of GLA when it goes psssssst.
I give them credit for trying a solution with what they
do have. Time alone will tell whether they succeed at overcoming the worsening customer relations problems from cancellations due to too few pilots.
Cities & airports have been grouching at them for years about GLA's delays & cancellations. They try, but do not fix the basic problem: They see themselves as an entry point for flight staff, and their business plan therefore has lower than McD's wages. They think the PAX don't have a choice, and will put up with a lot. That's less and less true - both our impatient, instant-gratification world today. Cities and airports also have Shiny Jet Syndrome, and some larger Regionals are ready to put their semi-surplus 135s and CJR-200s to work in larger EAS markets.
Kansas is a microcosm: First Manhattan, then Garden City got jet service, and PAX growth happened. Now Hays is jumping on the bandwagon - their patience with GLA was up as it drifted to a 61% completion rate. Enter Skywest, with 200s it has but are increasingly surplus. Places like Great Bend, loading an average of 4 PAX per day last time I looked and a half hour from Hays, will never get jet service: Hello Caravans / Pilatii. It's working in Salina, more people climbing onto the Pilatii, despite being just too close to Wichita to support larger aircraft (and therefore also EAS-ineligible).
We haven't seen the last of changes here, either!
