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Old Jan 30, 2012, 6:45 pm
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QX operating in Alaska

Sounds like QX could enter Alaska markets in 2013. Corporate chatter suggests ANC-FAI first, then SE AK routes. Of course, QX is at the mercy of AS, so we'll see how this and the timeline morphs over time.
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 6:57 pm
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Ugh...

Perhaps new flts like JNU-FAI will happen. Doubt it though
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:05 pm
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They don't have the range for SEA-ANC, right? Right????
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:05 pm
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this idea has been around a while. Mainly of QX in southeast. Ive not heard the FAI thing before but I wouldnt discount the idea. I dont think every flight to FAI would be QX planes..just some of them. They still have to move large cargo up that way. As a former very frequent flyer of the ANC/FAI route I dont see how QX would be able to compete with Era for business travelers going between the 2 cities as their start and stop destinations unless they got some kind of waiver to run out of the no security commuter terminal. Why?

Lets see here screw around going through TSA and getting to the gate to board 25 or 35 minutes prior..in essence wasting 30 to 45 minutes a week or twice a month just to hop on a prop driven Q400 OR go to ERA with no nudoscope TSA hassle arrive 5 minutes before boarding and save 30 minutes....all for the same price. Might work for the ma and pa Kettle clientele but the biz people who use AS on that route frequently do so because of the plane size and that its a jet as opposed to the bumpy loud props. Throw that difference out the window and AS is going to have a hard time encourging them to stay and I know people who ride that route weekly and some biweekly who would just use Era if QX started running the route.

Oh well I dont really go there much anymore...hopefully takes them a long time before they figure out how to get their range to go to ORD

Last edited by ANC; Jan 30, 2012 at 7:13 pm
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:15 pm
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I certainly get what you're saying re QX vs. 7H, but comparing the Q400 to the Dash 8-100 is like comparing an Oldsmobile to an Acura.

I actually wouldn't be opposed to a few QX flights on ANC-FAI, if they were interspersed among the jets and used to increase frequency on the route.

Originally Posted by ANC
this idea has been around a while. Mainly of QX in southeast. Ive not heard the FAI thing before but I wouldnt discount the idea. I dont think every flight to FAI would be QX planes..just some of them. They still have to move large cargo up that way. As a former very frequent flyer of the ANC/FAI route I dont see how QX would be able to compete with Era for business travelers going between the 2 cities as their start and stop destinations unless they got some kind of waiver to run out of the no security commuter terminal. Why?

Lets see here screw around going through TSA and getting to the gate to board 25 or 35 minutes prior..in essence wasting 30 to 45 minutes a week or twice a month just to hop on a prop driven Q400 OR go to ERA with no nudoscope TSA hassle arrive 5 minutes before boarding and save 30 minutes....all for the same price. Might work for the ma and pa Kettle clientele but the biz people who use AS on that route frequently do so because of the plane size and that its a jet as opposed to the bumpy loud props. Throw that difference out the window and AS is going to have a hard time encourging them to stay and I know people who ride that route weekly and some biweekly who would just use Era if QX started running the route
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:16 pm
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Originally Posted by slopeboy40
They don't have the range for SEA-ANC, right? Right????
Absolutely, SEA-ANC is easily doable with the Q400s. The max range is ~1600 miles.
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:17 pm
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QX is coming.

Here in JNU, with the new terminal project complete, focus is turning toward the older/northern parts of the terminal, and renovating it to serve the Q400.

The so-called milk run routes serving PSG, WRG, YAK, and CDV are likely candidates for the Q400. That should not be construed to mean that the combi service will go away.

Probably looking at '14 or perhaps a bit later for the Q400 here, but Southcentral is expected to get them first.
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 7:52 pm
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Originally Posted by dave1013
QX is coming.

Here in JNU, with the new terminal project complete, focus is turning toward the older/northern parts of the terminal, and renovating it to serve the Q400.

The so-called milk run routes serving PSG, WRG, YAK, and CDV are likely candidates for the Q400. That should not be construed to mean that the combi service will go away.

Probably looking at '14 or perhaps a bit later for the Q400 here, but Southcentral is expected to get them first.
I could see them going to one milk run per day, or even down to one a few days a week, and using JNU as a mini-hub for connections to PSG, SIT, WRG, and YAK.
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 12:04 am
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Good luck trying to get a Q400 started at 50 and 60 below 0.
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 1:07 am
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Originally Posted by AKLifetimeFlyer
Good luck trying to get a Q400 started at 50 and 60 below 0.
deHaviland Canada DHC8's are built in Montreal, and the engines in Winnipeg. trust me, they know a few things about cold weather; likely more than those warm weather boeing people...
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 4:26 pm
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Originally Posted by Chugach
I certainly get what you're saying re QX vs. 7H, but comparing the Q400 to the Dash 8-100 is like comparing an Oldsmobile to an Acura.

I actually wouldn't be opposed to a few QX flights on ANC-FAI, if they were interspersed among the jets and used to increase frequency on the route.
so long as they kept the jets flying the moring routes 55, 181, and maybe even 183 and the late afternoon stuff, with QX running the mid day routes would be ok. AS 55 goes to SCC and BRW so Im pretty sure that would remain a jet or combi jet and the peak time flights 6-9am and returning toward ANC from 3-7 are usually pretty full loads and same for going the other way. The mid day loads are at times dismal with total pax counts at times in the 30s
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 4:31 pm
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Originally Posted by CZBB
deHaviland Canada DHC8's are built in Montreal, and the engines in Winnipeg. trust me, they know a few things about cold weather; likely more than those warm weather boeing people...
it isnt so much how they build them or getting them started. They would have to keep them heated up with generators or whatever the case may be. Era does it just fine in FAI, OME, and other places that are -40 or -50. Ive been on NW Saabs in the north midwest where its just as cold and they operate just fine, and Penair does fine with Saab 340s in the Alaskan BFE. Too bad Saab 340s are becoming extinct. I really liked them
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 7:33 pm
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Originally Posted by ANC
so long as they kept the jets flying the moring routes 55, 181, and maybe even 183 and the late afternoon stuff, with QX running the mid day routes would be ok. AS 55 goes to SCC and BRW so Im pretty sure that would remain a jet or combi jet and the peak time flights 6-9am and returning toward ANC from 3-7 are usually pretty full loads and same for going the other way. The mid day loads are at times dismal with total pax counts at times in the 30s
Couldn't agree more, although I was on 183 on Friday and it had 55 people booked. The mid-day flights either direction are almost always light in the winter.
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 11:08 pm
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Originally Posted by airplanegeek
Sounds like QX could enter Alaska markets in 2013. Corporate chatter suggests ANC-FAI first, then SE AK routes. Of course, QX is at the mercy of AS, so we'll see how this and the timeline morphs over time.
Source?

Pics or it didn't happen.
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Old Feb 1, 2012, 12:16 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by steadyASshegoes
Source?

Pics or it didn't happen.
Well this has been rumored for a bit- IIRC last year the AAG announced it was 'looking into using QX for some intra-AK flying'
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