The news that US regional carrier Silver Airways has signed a letter of intent (LOI) for up to 50 ATR 42-600 turboprops will be welcome news in Toulouse.
The European airframer, one of the few remaining manufacturers of commercial turboprops in the world, has not signed an order for new aircraft from a continental US carrier since 1997, when American Airlines converted 12 ATR 72-500 options to firm orders, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows.
It has not been for lack of trying. In the mid-1990s ATR faced the perfect storm of a headline-grabbing crash – American Airlines flight 4184 in 1994 – and the rise of regional jets in the USA. Both factors contributed to a dearth of orders.
ATR has conducted a number of demonstration tours of its products, including one with the ATR 72-600 in May 2016. At the time, it predicted demand for roughly 250 new turboprops in the USA, as replacements for the existing in-service fleet and for some regional jets used on short segments.
“The renewal of the turboprop fleet [is] where I think we’re going to get a good shot,” said Patrick de Castelbajac, then chief executive of ATR, during the 2016 tour. However, he admitted that the airframer was not engaged in any sales discussions at the time.
ATR's new chief Christian Scherer told FlightGlobal in January that there was no "fundamental, natural economic" reason why its turboprops were not more successful in the USA, adding that it would pursue a "more aggressive" sales effort in the country.
ENTER SILVER
Fort Lauderdale-based Silver announced in December 2015 that it was evaluating options for its fleet, including the replacement of its 21 Saab 340B turboprops.
"We’re looking [for] a little bit longer and a little bit faster fleet type,” said Sami Teittinen, then chief executive of Silver, in a December 2015 interview with FlightGlobal. He later added that the airline needed additional range as well.
The LOI for 20 firm ATR 42-600s plus 30 options fits the needs outlined by Teittinen. The aircraft will have 46 seats – a 35% increase from the 34 seats on its Saabs – a maximum cruise speed of 300kt (555km/h), and range of 801nm (1,480km), according to Silver and ATR.
The Saab 340B flies at a maximum cruise speed of 283kt with a range of up to 470nm, according to the Swedish airframer.
To top it off, ATR opened a new pilot training centre in Miami – just a few kilometres down the road from Silver's home base – in February.
Silver will train pilots at the new facility, the airline says.
It is worth noting that Silver's ATR order does not appear to have occurred following a heated campaign between airframers. The ATR 42 is the only western-built turboprop with fewer than 70 seats in production today.
Teittinen said in February that, in addition to the ATR, it was considering used regional jets, including the Bombardier CRJ200 and Embraer ERJ-135 and ERJ-145, for its fleet.
"Silver's detailed evaluation vindicates our belief that the ATR 42-600 is the obvious aircraft of choice to upgrade older 30-50 seat regional fleets," Scherer said in a 1 August statement from Silver.
The airframer and other manufacturers have long argued that turboprops are economically competitive compared with regional jets on stage lengths less than around 350nm. In addition, the speed advantage of the jets does not factor in for flights of these lengths.
PERFECT STORM
ATR's troubles in the USA arguably began on 31 October 1994. That day an ATR 72-200 operated by Simmons Airlines as AA4184 from Indianapolis to Chicago O'Hare encountered icing conditions while in a holding pattern and, after an uncontrolled roll, plummeted into an Indiana soybean field killing all 68 aboard.
The crash initially prompted a temporary ban by the US Federal Aviation Administration on the aircraft flying in known icing conditions. The ban was lifted after new operating rules were put in place by January 1995, and larger de-icing boots were subsequently installed on all of the ATRs operating in the USA.
The ATR fleet struggled to recover from the bad press. This was exacerbated when, in 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) placed blame for the crash on French authorities, saying their lack of action on known roll-control issues in icing situations led "directly" to the fatal incident.
The in-service fleet of ATR 42s and 72s with commercial passenger airlines in the continental USA had been growing steadily prior to the crash. The fleet increased by more than half from 81 in 1990 to a peak of 151 in 1994, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. AMR, then parent to American Airlines, ordered 25 ATR 42s and 72s plus options for 75 more in 1990, and Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) ordered eight ATR 72s in 1993 and eventually took 19 of the type.
The 42 and 72 became relatively common in the regional fleets of American, Continental Airlines and Delta. Their ATR fleets peaked at 85 at American in 1997, 42 at Continental in 1996 and 19 at Delta in 2000, Fleets Analyzer shows.
Fleets Analyzer
Continental removed its last mainland ATR in 2002 – it continued to contract Cape Air for a small ATR 42 operation in Micronesia until it merged with United Airlines in 2010 – Delta in 2007, and American in 2013 when it shut down its Executive Airlines subsidiary.
Outside of the continental USA, Hawaiian Airlines operates three ATR 42s and Cape Air continues to fly two ATR 42s for United in Micronesia.
But after a Continental Airlines order for eight ATR 42-500s in April 1996 and the American's option conversion in 1997, no orders were forthcoming for either the 42 or 72 – until the new Silver deal, two decades later.
US carriers, by and large, shifted their regional aircraft orders to the burgeoning small jet market in the late 1990s. After a Mesaba order for 18 Saab 340Bs in late 1997, only Bombardier landed US orders for the Q400 turboprop – at Alaska Airlines-subsidiary Horizon Air and former Continental Connection operator Colgan Air – after 2000.
And ATR's return to the US market with Silver is still not a sure thing. The LOI is subject to unspecified regulatory approvals before deliveries can begin in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Silver is wrapping up a strategic review – that includes new executive Steven Rossum, who joins the airline on 7 August – and is in discussions with San Juan-based Seaborne Airlines over a partnership or possible merger.
ATR, despite these possible hitches, is optimistic about the commitment and its future in the US market.
"We are excited that the travelling public in the US will discover that, when they are onboard an ATR -600 series, flying on a modern prop-jet bears no comparison to the regional aircraft of yesteryear," says Scherer, referring to an airframe that dates to 1984.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
