How are small airlines making out now? DOTM3

[vectorforfood]

Simple Q... I notice it seems some the prices have come more into realistic lines.. landing fees, maintenance costs, crew training from what I remember are a LOT cheaper for small aircraft now.

Is it now reasonably feasible to run a small aircraft operation?

[DenisG]

It has always been possible to run operations with >40 seaters in aws. There have been a few test runs from various users with regard to smaller a/c whose results you may find in the forum somewhere. Generally, operations with very small a/c <30 seats  have become a bit more difficult but not impossible. Operations with >40 seaters are still very well possible.

Cheers,
Denis

[Troxartas86]

I bankrupted myself running six 707's when gas went up and have now reorganized into a regional airline running Viscounts. Those are set to be replaced by Brasilia's (30 seat) in 1985 and I just put in an order for a handful of Fairchild Metro IIIs (19 seat). I have been running a couple of Metros in beginners world with general success. I will let you know how it goes, so far I'm making money.

[Troxartas86]

UPDATE: I've taken on six brand new Fairchild Metro IIIs under lease at this point. The worst is making $4,000/wk on average and the best is making over $30,000. Overall profits are fluctuating wildly month to month from as little as $30,000 to as high as $400,000 but I haven't posted any losses recently. I'm pretty much at the limit of what I can do with my two fleet types in my region but Ive got nearly 3 million in the bank so I'll probably be ordering some real planes soon enough. If I actually owned my planes, I feel I'd have a very profitable little operation going on. It can be done.