Not to ruin the party or anything, but here goes.....
I fly the Q400 for a scandinavian carrier. We have had the thing since 2000 and we were the launch customer I believe. I have only been on it for about a year and came from the MD80. I bid it for the chance to fly left seat.
It absolutely STINKS!! It is the worst airplane I have ever flown. Oh, the screens are nice and it has alot of power. Granted. But everything else is a disaster. Six years on it is not uncommon to have anywhere from 2 to 6 airplanes grounded on a daily basis(of the 13 airplanes in my base). It breaks down constantly, and for different reasons. Talking to people who have been on it from the get-go, it becomes apparent that nothing has really changed.
I still like my job and I enjoy going to work. It could however, be ALOT more enjoyable if we didn't have to put with constant tech issues, delays and cancellations. It may be cheap to buy and it may be cheap to run(on paper), but it still has to fly to make money.
Aren't maintenance hiccups common if you are the launch customer for an airplane? Even though the airplane has been in service for several years, we still have yet to see it become a reliable airplane, which it will with time and as more carriers order it.
Horizon has also experienced reliability issues but they are getting better. Remember, our company ordered 13 more in a 76 seat configuration.