I have noticed in recent years that AC is using DH4s predominantly for routes throughout Newfoundland and Labrador where CRJs or DH1/DH3s would have been used. Examples of such routes include YYT-YYR, YYR-YHZ, YDF-YHZ, and YQX-YHZ. Most of these flights are flown with loads of 30-50 passengers (aside from unusual cases), so I don't see why they wouldn't use smaller planes for them.

My understanding is that it is cheaper to operate the DH4 versus say the CRJ, DH1, or DH3 even if the load is more suitable for these planes instead. YYT-YYR-YHZ was always ran using a CRJ for as long as I can remember. YDF-YHZ often had the CRJ at least once a day, with the smaller Dash-8s being used for the other flights.

I miss the CRJs speed on long routes like YHZ-YYR or YYT-YYR especially. Just thought I would open this up to discussion!