Why do airlines use jets not prop planes?

Le Café

there are still the prop planes in some airlines.. China's self-developed jetliner ARJ21-700 completes first manned overwater flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnT_LmfO9Kw

rick

Many airlines use prop planes on smaller hauls and shorter routes. They are frequently more economical and often quicker. We had one city pair of less than 500 air miles. Our CV 580 prop planes were several minutes faster than than our 727s or 737s on the same route.

STEPHEN

I've flown on several flights with prop planes. All very short haul.

duck you sucker!

Some small bush airlines like in Alaska Do use recip prop planes (General Aircraft) or turbo props, exclusively. Very small short range, the AL cannot afford a 737 nor amortize one. They Do use props on Turbo Props and Turbo Shafts. These are Driven by a Jet Engine. So, they are technically , Jets. These are used for transport. Better fuel consumption than a turbo fan or turbojet, in Lbs.Hr. Reason not used for airliners is they are a bit slow, 400 MPH, limited ceiling. Propellors are ineffective above about 26,000 feet. They Could be made to get up to 600 MPH like cruise on a TF or TJ, the Supermarine Spitfire did in a test, but that pushes a propeller's limits. Prop tips cannot exceed Mach 1 or they cavitate. Our TP De Havilland "Dash-Eight" in class has 5 prop blades per engine, plus variable pitch (constant speed) to partially compensate. A TF or TJ can fly above bad weather. A turbo prop cannot. Good for extremely large, heavy cargo, like a C130 "Hercules". EDIT: The C-130 is bigger than most airliners. There is no theoretical limit to the size of a TP.

armouror

Airlines in 2018 used Both

Vincent G

Turbofan can be made much larger and powerful than turboprop engines, allowing bigger planes; and bigger planes are inherently more efficient. Moreover, a propeller is limited by the speed of its tip, which cannot be too close to the speed of sound. Combine the speed of the propeller tip in rotation with that of the plane moving forward and you have a cruise speed that has to be less than that of a jet airliner, with is limited by the speed of the whole plane not being too close to the speed of sound. This means that the cruise speed of a propeller driven aircraft has to be less than that of a jet propelled one. Airlines like fast aircraft, because the plane can arrive sooner and do another revenue flight.

Otis

They use turbo props , which are propellers powered by a jet engine rather than a piston engine, for smaller short haul planes. I believe they are more efficient on take off. However,they are not limited in size or range as the Hercules transport plane is a turbo prop and has arange of 2500 miles.

Peter

The best thing to do when you have questions on why a company or corporation does things a certain way is to follow the money. If Jets are more profitable that props than jets it is

Richard D

Jets are much faster. A propeller planes goes only a few hundred mph, with jets 500 on up. Also, propeller planes vibrate excessively. But they definitely do use propeller planes at small airports.

Joseph

Do you want to drone across the Atlantic for twelve hours shaking in turbulence most of the way across or do you want to get there in half the time and fly comfortably above the turbulence?

JetDoc

Because jet engines are more efficient at the high altitudes where most airliners fly.

lorn

Fashion and flexibility of fleet

Coffee Drinker

Lots of answers so far say its speed, efficiency, size, etc. Those answers are all partially correct. The real reason is economics, and speed, efficiency and size are all contributing factors in the overall economics of commercial airlines. The majority of airlines are for-profit companies, meaning their PRIMARY goal is to generate profits for their stockholders by increasing revenue and decreasing costs. When you look at the economics of relatively long flights, jet aircraft just come out better. The aircraft are faster, which has the following advantages: 1. You can use the same aircraft for more flights, which generates more revenue because you move more passengers and/or cargo. 2. Faster flights reduce costs for flight crews. Pilots and flight attendants are still generally paid by the hour, or even if they are paid by the flight they generally expect the pay to reflect the amount of time the flight takes. Faster aircraft mean you pay fewer hours of wages to those crews, or more accurately you get them to operate more flights each day in exchange for paying them a day's wages. 2b. The cost of flight crews go up exponentially if you have to carry a second crew. Government regulations require airlines to have 2 flight crews on board during flights over a certain length (I don't know the exact threshold). If a slower aircraft pushes the flight time beyond that number it literally doubles the cost of pilot's salaries because you have to pay 2 crews. . 3. Ticket prices - passengers (and customers who ship cargo) will usually pay more for faster service. If all other factors were equal, a customer would pick the faster flight. Some passengers might choose a slower flight if they get a cheaper ticket, but that means the airlines makes less revenue per flight because they have to reduce their ticket prices. These factors all add up to create the best overall economics - meaning the best combination if increased revenue and lowest costs for the airlines, so they can pay dividends to their stockholders and big bonuses to their executives, which is ALWAYS the PRIMARY goal of any for-profit company. As a few other people have pointed out, the economics break down when you look at shorter flights (under 500 miles or so). The benefits of speed simply don't make up for other costs such as maintenance, fuel, and increased purchase price of the aircraft itself. Jet aircraft burn the most fuel during the first 20-30 minutes after takeoff because they are running the engines at higher power to climb that aircraft up to its cruising altitude. If you don't stay at that altitude and cruise for a while, then its just a waste of fuel. So those shorter flights can actually work out in favor of turboprop aircraft. Its kind of like using the freeway with your car. On a short trip a few miles across town, it doesn't makes sense to go out of your way to get on the freeway if you're only going a few miles. But on a long road trip, its worth the time to sit through stoplights and traffic to get on the freeway so you can travel at a faster speed for the majority of your distance. Also worth noting, is that what we typically call "jet engines" are actually high bypass turbofan engines. And modern "prop" planes use a turbo-prop engine. Both engines use a turbine with internal fuel jets to generate rotational movement. They just use that rotation in different ways: Turboprops use it to spin a propeller which pulls the aircraft through the air, whereas turbofans (aka jets) use the rotational motion to spin an internal fan and multi-stage compressor to blast the air molecules out the back of the engine at high speed to generate thrust through conservation of momentum.

RICK

Range and speed Plus at high altitudes jets are more efficient

Zebra

Cuz jets are faster

USAFisnumber1

Efficiency and cost. Prop planes need high grade, high octane aviation gasoline. Think of it as super premium with a price to match. Jet engines on the other hand use jet fuel with is very similar to diesel, heating oil and kerosene. They have even used vegetable oil in a test plane to see if it would work. It did. Plus since jet fuel is so close to diesel fuel, you can burn it in diesel trucks. That is a big advantage in the military.

frank lynn

Time. Makes for shorter flights and we all know that time is money.

Jerry S

faster and safer.

anand

Propellers are out dated technology. Jets thrust the plane much faster forward, resulting in higher air velocity over the wings and faster and higher lift. They are less susceptible to variations in air densities and air pockets and so offer smoother flight.