Air Canada Bombardier Q 400's are Dinosaurs
 

Flying out of Kelowna (YLW) BC travellers really have only 2 choices. WestJet or Air Canada. WestJet uses modern 737 jets and modern Bombardier propeller Q 400's on short hauls Air Canada occasionally flys jets (Air Canada Rouge) but primarily (90%) flys old run down propeller Q 400's on short hauls. These planes are dinosaurs that should be scrapped. Carry on luggage may fit in the sizer but it doesn't fit in the overhead bin unless it's a tiny back pack at best. Announcements made by either the cockpit crew or the flight attendant cannot be heard, much less understood, because of the vibration noises from the often loose rattling panels in the planes interior or the old prop engines that shake themselves silly. The biggest joke of all is Aeroplan sometimes markets these dinosaurs as "Business Class" on Award Travel. Getting to Vancouver or Calgary or Edmonton or Victoria via Air Canada means enduring a 1 to 1 1/2 hr flight on these dinosaurs and should be avoided if at all possible. Does anyone share my feelings on these "should be extinct planes" ? Air Canada should be embarrassed about this lousy service.

Uh?

The AC and WS Q400 are essentially identical. Neither featuring a business class section. But of course an award that includes additional legs in business will end up as business award.

Perhaps the OP wrongly refer to older Dash-8 models operated by AC as Q400, which they are not?

AFAIK, the Q400s for both WestJet and Air Canada are the exact same propeller aircraft.

You are probably thinking of the Dash 8s which yes are a little long in the tooth. From an economics point of view, I am sure they are worth their weight in gold, though.

Also, Aeroplan would never market these as business class. You can get J points from YLW to YYZ in J but your first leg will be in Y (it will be noted on Aeroplan's website that this portion would be in Economy). When you book a ticket, the points are not calculated segment by segment but rather origin to destination. So if you get a J reward but one leg doesn't have J, you do not get a discount for that.

As folks would say, speak with your wallet. If you prefer the 737s out of YLW go for it. It is only an hour flight, which I am sure connects you to some more modern aircraft .

They actually have.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27466463-post3.html

I would not call them embarrassing or dinosaurs at all. They are perfect aircraft for short flights. How many J seats do you think airlines are going to sell on these short routes? Airlines could careless less about the J award tickets. Plus, Westjet also fly's the Q400 on these routes, which are about the same age as AC's. AC's D300's are going to be update to match the Q400's soon.

The WS Q400s are all Next-Gen aircraft which are nicer. AC flies some older Q400s and maybe even a few original Dash 8-400s but has several NextGens too. The DH3s and DH1s are easy to avoid on most routes. I really like the Q400 and prefer it to the CRJ200s.

You seem to be overlooking Air North, CMA, Flair, PCA. And Alaska/Horizon, for service to Seattle.

Coincidentally, I am reading this post as I roll into YYZ on a DH1.

Tell me OP, if you were the finance guy for an airline, what period of time would you amortize this huge capital investment over?

While not a plane I look forward to flying, I'll take a Q400 over an E145 any day.

Maybe it's just me but I actually like the Q400s since deplaning and boarding doesn't take 10 years.

While it may be far from the fanciest aircraft in the sky, I was at the Jazz launch party for the DH4 in a YYZ hangar only a few months after you joined FlyerTalk (June 3rd, 2011 to be precise)... So I wouldn't quite call it a "dinosaur".

I also like the Q400 they are nice planes for smaller communities on quick routes

Last week I flew YYC - YEG on one of the four or five Q400 AC bought from another party that has the smaller bins. I cannot remember from who and how many AC received from a US Airline. The interior is different and AC staff refers to them at 74 and not 78 due to the seating.

I try to avoid the older Dash 8 - 300 just like most folks

Tomorrow I will be on a Q400 again between YYC & YEG :cool:

The vast majority of Jazz's Q400 are next gen. There are 10 (Fin 489-498) that are the previous generation of Q400 with smaller overhead bins. From memory, those that have SR in their registration (eg: G-FSRY) were previously flowned by Sky Regional between YUL-YTZ and were acquired from Lynx Aviation.Those that have JZ (Fin 494-498 eg: C-GJZN) are former US Airways as mentioned in the previous post

It's be just as fast to board a narrowbody jet if people were forced to part with their ridiculous bags like when boarding a Q400.