Harbour Air & West Coast Air

[Navajo-dude]

Curious about how things are at WCA since WCA was purchased? Can anyone update?

[modi13]

Bump. I'd like to know too.

[Pilot_king!]

me too, are the twin otters flying much?

[North Shore]

^Every day, to and fro....

[modi13]

From the schedule they have online, it looks like the Twins are flying about half as much as they used to. I'm more interested in layoffs/hiring/upgrades and the situation with the fleet, if any of the planes have been sold. And what's going on with the separate terminals?

[Rowdy]

Why would the twin fly when the single burns half the fuel, uses half the crew, half the maintenance costs and isnt always in the hangar?

I doubt they'll keep the 100 series birds...

[modi13]

Why would the twin fly when the single burns half the fuel, uses half the crew, half the maintenance costs and isnt always in the hangar?

I doubt they'll keep the 100 series birds...

The Twins are only operating the flights with highest density, mostly morning and evening, just judging by the schedule. Last I heard, one had leased engines and was out of service. They've only got one 200, so I doubt they'll get rid of all the 100s, unless they buy some replacements: they're usually down for six months at a time when they're getting checked for corrosion.

[Rowdy]

I wouldnt be surprised to see some 300's aquired actually. Theres a Borek twin sitting in richmond on standby for now actually..

[Pilot_king!]

Speaking of retiring the 100s, I would love to see HA grow on the West Coast enough to be able to afford replacing 100s, with 400s.

[Tommyr]

The twins run just about as much as they did before the only real changes are in some cases instead of having an HA double go out (two otters same time) and a twin, that usually had no one on it, they will just send a full otter and a full twin.

[seniorpumpkin]

Why would the twin fly when the single burns half the fuel, uses half the crew, half the maintenance costs and isnt always in the hangar?

I think that's what a lot of WCA pilots were afraid of at first. If you look at the other side of the coin though (I'm a little biased FYI), the twins are way more spacious, our passengers prefer them, they are slightly faster, and the extra 2-4 seats you can sell per trip gives them an earning potential of $300-$600 more per hour.
That being said, I would not be surprised to see the 100's replaced with 300's. The one 200 has been in the hangar as a parts plane for over a year now since WCA couldn't afford to do the corrosion check.