The boom in commuter services in the 1970s and 1980s was created not just by the worldwide trend of upgauging by mainline carriers but also by the availability of efficient 9-15 seat turboprop aircraft, at affordable prices. The first generation of these aircraft included the Beech 99 and DeHavilland Canada Twin Otter – as third-level carriers themselves grew through increased frequencies and longer stage lengths, these dependable frames were found to be a bit too small, or a bit too slow.
Engines like the still-used Garrett AiResearch TPE-331 and Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop were introduced in the 1970s, and 19-seat aircraft like the Swearingen Metro emerged as a result. In Germany, historic manufacturer Dornier, which had focused on smaller utility aircraft, won government funding to develop new, highly-efficient wings, and introduced the versatile Do 228 series in 1980, with the first frames entering service in 1982.
Dornier focusing on the short-runway, smaller-market, medium-haul market was a good strategy for emerging economies in the 1980s and would have had much success in the 1970s USA – but the American market matured quickly and 30-seat designs like the Shorts 330/360 and Embraer Brasilia captured large fleet orders in the early 1980s.
However, in US niche markets, with the slightly larger 228-200, Dornier found some success. Precision, focused on Boston and New York, and serving smaller New England communities with multi-hop flights, started using the 228 to replace its smaller Beechcraft in the back half of the 1980s. Fischer Brothers Aviation in Ohio also ordered the 228 to simplify its oddball fleet. Both of these carriers would use the 228 on Airlink services.
Fewer than 250 Do 228s were produced in Germany, however, as it hit the market just a bit too late and had too much competition in the 19-seat category; in the US its role could largely be handled by 30-seat craft as well.
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