The Super Commuters are Coming

Super Commuters Battle for Market Position

The coming super commuter war is hotting up. Indeed a few short years ago the term ‘super commuter’ did not even exist. Today two new-technology types are due to enter service next year with three more to follow in 1985. In our June edition, we previewed the Franco/Italian ATA42, In this article, we will examine the 1984/85 operational debutantes, the Canadian DHC Dash 8, the Swedish/American SF-340 and Brazil’s Embraer Brasilia.

The generation of super commuters, pressurised airliners in the 30 to 49-seat regime, was spurned by US deregulation in the late seventies. When deregulation got under way in 1978 most larger carriers withdrew from servicing the smaller, often marginal centres with their established jet equipment. The trunk operators rapidly filled the vacuum. Typically, the US commuter scene commences with aircraft in the Cessna 402/Piper Chieftain class right through to Fairchild F27s and Convair 580s. In Australia, much of this fleet would be deemed 2nd level airliners though in America the overall commuter industry has boomed since deregulation, despite the effects of two years of economic recession. So strong has been the growth that the number of passengers employed has doubled between 1978 and 1983 which is by comparison about eight times better than that increase achieved by the traditional US trunk carriers.

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