Story and audio: http://www.wwno.org
Record-high fuel prices
have hammered airlines, forcing executives to eliminate flights, cut
back on unprofitable routes and make passengers pay for many perks that
used to be free.
Now the airlines are looking at other ways to save money. That means a new opportunity for a plane from the past.
On
a typical day at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport,
the "Plane Train" ferries some 200,000 travelers a day between
terminals. One of those passengers, Rebecca Hamilton, is on her way home
to Florida.
"If I can do it economically, I fly out of Gainesville," she says.
Often,
she finds that affordable ticket on Delta Air Lines. Hamilton knows
that always means two things: a connection through Atlanta, and at least
part of her trip will be on a smaller, regional jet. But that's
changing.
Tonight, she's a bit surprised to board a plane branded
"Silver Airways." And it's not a regional jet. It has propellers —
something she has not seen in decades.
"Mostly I remember what
other people say: that it's bouncier and that it's more turbulent and
your stomach whooshes into your, you know, a little more often. But
quite frankly, it takes a lot to make me feel scared and I just don't
really mind it," Hamilton says.
Outside, the propeller blades
create a rhythmic ruckus as they chop through the air. Inside, it's only
a faint drone. Ninety minutes later, Hamilton is on the ground in
Gainesville, ready for her short drive home. The airplane she came in on
is also home.
These 34-seat Saab turboprops make up the entire
Silver fleet. And each night at its 60,000-square-foot maintenance
hangar at Gainesville's airport, crews check tires, landing gear and
dozens of other components. Night maintenance supervisor Justin
Hernandez is about to sign off on what looks like a new plane.
"Right
now, to the left, Aircraft 352, that's our latest. Its aircraft name is
Limitless. It just got here from conformity check," Hernandez says.
That's
the last step before rotating into the Silver fleet. Regional carrier
Mesaba once flew this plane, first with Northwest Airlines' colors, and
more recently, Delta's.
Matthew Holiday, a vice president at
Silver, says the carrier doesn't try to hide its turboprop fleet.
Rather, it embraces it — right down to the logo, which mimics a spinning
propeller.
"We want to be clear in our messaging to consumers that this is a turboprop. But it's not a bad thing," Holiday says.
Through
the 1990s and 2000s, airlines replaced turboprops with faster regional
jets. Jet fuel was about 87 cents per gallon. Now it's four times that
much. Since turboprops use less fuel, flying one instead of a jet often
means a profit instead of a loss. So expect to see more, says Regional
Airline Association President Roger Cohen.
"After a steady
decline in the ratio of turboprops to jets in the regional fleet, we've
just seen here over the last year, year and a half, the first time that
line started to move in the other direction," Cohen says.
The
Federal Aviation Administration forecasts regional jets with fewer than
40 seats will disappear from fleets by 2015. This comes as reliance on
larger turboprop aircraft doubles in the next decade. And with new
technology that cancels most noise and vibration, they won't be your
grandfather's turboprop.
Story and audio: http://www.wwno.org
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