Throwback: When Mesa Airlines Flew The Dash 8

Regional carrier Mesa Airlines plays a key role in keeping the US connected. It operates feeder services for regional brands of legacy airlines, namely American Eagle and United Express. Today, its fleet consists entirely of jet-powered aircraft, but this hasn’t always been the case. Let’s take a look at when it also flew the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop.

Before the US Airways brand merged into American Airlines in 2015, Mesa’s Dash 8s also flew feeder services for US Airways Express. Photo: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt via Wikimedia Commons

16 small turboprops

According to data from ch-aviation.com, Mesa Airlines flew a total of 16 aircraft from the Dash 8 family during its period of operating the type. Seven of these were examples of the Dash 8-200 variant, with the remaining nine being Dash 8-Q200s. The latter of these two designs featured an  ANVS (Active Noise and Vibration Suppression) system.

The Dash 8-200 series had the same fuselage as the original Dash 8-100, but benefited from more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123 engines. Mesa’s examples seated 37 economy class passengers in a four-abreast (2-2) layout. During their time at the airline, they flew feeder services for America West Express, United Express, and US Airways Express.

Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.

Some Mesa Dash 8s flew for America West Express. This carrier merged into US Airways Express (which itself later merged into American Eagle) in 2005. Photo: Aeroprints.com via Wikimedia Commons

The Dash 8-200s

In terms of Mesa Airlines’ standard Dash 8-200s, the carrier received these aircraft in two waves. The first three joined the airline in 1996, with the very first (N434YV) coming onboard in May that year. The other two (N436YV and N437YV) came shortly after, joining the fleet the next month. All three of these 25-year-old aircraft remain active in Bolivia, Greenland, and the US, having left the airline after more than a decade of service in 2010 and 2012.

The airline waited another eight years before getting its remaining Dash 8-200s. It acquired these from Piedmont Airlines in 2004, with one coming onboard in February, March, April, and May that year. Once again, all four examples remain active, having left in 2012 and 2013. Three are presently US-based, and the fourth flies for Kenya’s Fly540.

Mesa’s Dash 8s have done on to fly for a wide variety of operators. Photo: Eric Salard via Flickr

The Dash 8-Q200s

As for Mesa’s noise-suppressed Dash 8-Q200s, these nine aircraft arrived at the airline over a much shorter timespan. Indeed, just six months separated the first arrival (September 1996) from the last (March 1997). All nine were brand-new acquisitions, and they stayed with Mesa for around 15 years, eventually leaving the fleet between 2010 and 2012.

In terms of where these aircraft ended up afterward, they have had just as varied a service history as their standard Dash 8-200 counterparts. Eight of the nine remain active today, with the ninth having been destroyed in an Al Shabaab attack in Kenya in 2020. The surviving examples now fly in Bolivia, Ecuador, Iceland, Kenya, and the US.

Did you know that Mesa Airlines used to fly the Dash 8? Perhaps you even traveled on one yourself at some point? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

from Simple Flying https://ift.tt/36czegB
via IFTTT