<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyinHawaiian:
I think people who opine that Dash 8/CRJ flights are the way to go have some points - yes, less empty seats, cheaper to operate, etc. But then I look at Mahalo, Discovery, Air Pacfic, Royal Hawaiian, etc., all who tried to be a third player with smaller equipment and failed. And, really, the only difference is that they failed using equipment that was smaller than the jets being flown by HA/AQ.
</font>
FlyinHawaiian, have you considered that perhaps these other outfits failed because HA and AQ made it impossible for them to succeed? Perhaps on a level palying field (say, everyone starts from scratch) an interisland carrier with small props would win out?
The very nature of a monopoly implies a very high barrier for entry into the business that is controlled by the monopolizing company. IMHO, RoyalHawaiian, Mahalo (
) and the others never stood a chance.
BTW, in my very limited capacity as someone who is totally ignorant of how airplanes work, I think that the B717 is a great plane for these flights. Or would be, if it wasn't for the lease payments that HA has to make to Boeing.
[This message has been edited by notsosmart (edited Mar 06, 2004).]