Originally Posted by
BearX220
High-ceiling storm fronts (high-altitude thunderheads, etc.). The Qs fly lower.
Kind of but not really. The Q400's have to fly lower because they have a lower service ceiling but nothing preventing an RJ from taking a lower altitude route (called a Sermon Route). The bigger issue is that NY Metro doesn't like to issue those routes too often as it will crowd the airspace even more in adverse weather. 19 times out of 20 if your route is closed for weather, you're sitting there until a reroute becomes available or something opens up. That includes the Q400's. Also gets into ops specs and what the airline allows the pilots to do in terms of getting creative to get out of there. Thunderstorms though, the performance of one airplane to the next and how they deal with them is virtually identical (unless you can top them).
Originally Posted by
transportprof
Wet and slippery runways can pose less of a limitation for the Bombardier turboprops as they are designed for short take-off and landing. I have been at airports when the Bombardier turboprops go out and the commuter jets stay on the ground.
More of an operational spec with the airline than the aircraft. The commuter jets may have a clear icing limitation or more so, it's just a case of them going into bigger airports that when the weather goes downhill, that's it and the RJ flights are stopped first (example ... a 145 going from Toronto to Newark cancels but the Q400 going from Toronto to Buffalo goes ... that's more a case of the airport than the weather). Landing for sure though you're right if it's a contaminated runway, the required distance will be longer for a heavier airplane.