Archive for the 'Colgan' Category

Colgan Q400s to Operate Out of Dulles This Summer

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 10, 2011
in Colgan, Pinnacle and United
. 10 Comments

I heard that the equipment from Providence (my local airport) to Washington-Dulles was changing this summer, and lo and behold:

Yes, some of the Colgan Q400s (originally part of Continental Connection) are marking their way to Dulles. The 78-seat aircraft will be used on regional routes out of Dulles, like Albany, Burlington, Norfolk, and Syracuse starting this June.

Colgan is not a new United Express operator at the airport, though – the carrier already provides services utilizing its fleet of Saab 340s.

Just like Newark, the Q400 appears to be a good fit for Dulles. On short-haul routes, thee speed difference between a regional jet and the Q400 is minimal. Another perk is economics – a Pinnacle investor presentation from December says the Q400 NextGen “consumes about 25% less fuel than 76-seat jets.” This is probably an important issue for airlines like United, as in many cases the mainline carrier is on the hook for the fuel expense for regional partners operating under a capacity purchase agreement (CPA).

Pinnacle also included an interesting graph in the aforementioned presentation – the Q400′s fuel burn advantage is apparent , and it only widens as fuel prices increase. (Note this is based on 300nm trip – not sure how this looks on longer stages.)

According to United’s latest fleet plan (released in January), nine Q400s are being added to the United Express fleet this year. Once these aircraft are placed into service, the total fleet will stand at 29.

Based on Bombardier’s latest update on Q400 orders and deliveries, it appears the aircraft coming online this year will clear out Colgan’s (really parent company Pinnacle’s) order backlog. So the big question is – will more be ordered? Pinnacle’s annual report notes that it has options for aircraft to be delivered this year and in 2013.

One issue, I guess, would be how the combined United-Continental scope clause eventually shakes out. Regardless, the Q400 looks pretty nice in an environment with high fuel prices, and could probably fit nicely into some United markets on the East Coast, but possibly on regional routes out of LAX and SFO as well. (I’m just thinking out loud here.)

Tragic Colgan Crash in Buffalo

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 13, 2009
in Colgan
. 0 Comments

It’s never good to wake up and see news of an accident. After 10 last night, a Colgan Q400, flight 3407, crashed while on approcah to Buffalo. As it stands now, it appears 49 people have died: 44 passengers, 4 crew, and 1 person on the ground. Evan Sparks reports that this is the first commercial aviation accident since 2006. Details on the crash are still very sparse. This article has some good information, as well as link to the ATC audio.

I was very concerned when I read the headlines this morning as a good friend of mine is a Colgan flight attendant. Luckily, he is fine. But all that means is that someone else lost a good friend.

Very sad.

EDIT: Usually I don’t like speculation after a crash, but I found this post on Miles O’Brien’s blog (via Twitter), which is very interesting and of a much better quality than the speculation one will often find in the mainstream media.