France's ATR, a leading maker of turboprop planes, is out to convince U.S. airlines that its 42 to 72 passenger planes can save money and save service to smaller cities that have been losing service lately.
The company is on tour in the U.S., showing off its new models, the ATR72-600 and ATR42-600. They are the newest versions of planes that were once familiar on U.S. routes that fed traffic from smaller cities to airline hubs in larger cities.
But in the 1990s, most were retired, and replaced by regional jets with about the same number of seats, but with much higher operating costs. In the past few years, however, the airlines have been going in two directions: Where traffic can sustain it, switching to larger planes, and otherwise end service.
ATR believes that many of those lower-volume routes could be served economically with turboprops, and make many revived routes profitable. For more on the idea, from USA Today, click HERE
Photo: ATR
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