Question regarding turboprop service

[CE402]

Has the rather drastic switch from turboprops to RJs in the last few years left as many gaps in service as I think it has? Just 3 or so years ago I remember there being a statistic that around 30% of all traffic at BOS was prop (the stat. was continually brought up in the debate over Rwy 14/32) and I certainly remember all the Eagle Saabs at the Vent, Southie, and the Firehouse etc. Before that it was BizEx, Northeast, Precision, etc....Now it's just Cape Air, a few Colgans and Commutairs. I know that Eagle, etc. went RJ, but from my (very) limited knowledge of things turbine, I thought that jets only made money at a certain altitude, and therefore only certain distances were feasible for jets. Based on that, I'm guessing that these RJs aren't doing the old BOS-PWM or BOS-LEB routes that the turboprops covered...or maybe these new RJs are economical enough that they can. I guess what I'm asking is: Is there still room for scheduled turboprop service in the US, or is the RJ a flat out replacement for the turboprop?

 

[350DRIVER]

I guess what I'm asking is: Is there still room for scheduled turboprop service in the US, or is the RJ a flat out replacement for the turboprop?

Most pax prefer a jet versus a turboprop. I much prefer to be in a RJ versus a prop. Skywest, Eagle, Shuttle, ALG, etc, etc, still operate them however... Quite a few out there.


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[ATR-DRIVR]

Depends on how much money they make. The ATR breaks even with less than a third full, and most of my trips have been full.
Yeah, there is a market.

 

[CE402]

Skywest, Eagle, Shuttle, ALG, etc, etc, still operate them however... Quite a few out there

I forgot about ALG....they might still come in and out of BOS. I don't see the others in the Northeast at all (just Eagle RJs here). I guess what made me think about this was the drastic switch in BOS -- which is an airport that used to (still does?) feed out to all the smaller airports in New England like LEB, PWM, BGR, BTV etc. So maybe it doesn't seem quite so drastic in other parts of the country.