After spending the weekend in Gainesville visiting family and attending a graduation, it’s time for us to head home. Today we’re flying on and will be reviewing Silver Airways. This is the first time I’ve flown with Silver and only one of a handful of times I’ve been on an ATR aircraft. This Silver Airways review will be from Orlando to Greenville. Today we’ll be on Silver’s ATR42, it’s a smaller 48 seat turbo prop.
Silver Airways added flights to Orlando from Greenville a few months ago and I’m kinda glad. I don’t like Florida very much, but we have family here so having an easier route from GSP is welcome. I also like having more direct flights and more competition coming to the Greenville market. I also love the bright pink planes, not sure why it’s called Silver Airways and they planes are pink, but whatever, I think they look great.
Another great thing about this Silver Airways flight is the cost. This one way flight was only $60/person. That rate also includes a carry on bag but not a seat assignment. With only window and aisle seats that’s not a big deal, there’s not really a bad seat on the plane. Anyway let’s get into this Silver Airways ATR42 review.
Bottom Line: Silver Airways is a nice way to get between GSP and MCO. The seats are not huge, but being a direct flight is fantastic. The 2-2 seating means no middle seats, but it is a turbo prop so it’s a little louder than other planes.
MCO Airport
We had checked into our Silver Airways flight on their website last night so we didn’t need to check in at the counter. But we did ride the slowest escalator in the world. Seriously, why does MCO have really slow escalators? All of them are terribly slow.
Silver Airways departs from the 1-59 gate section so we headed towards the TSA check point. Ok, fun fact, I misspelled Val’s name on her ticket. Not the first time I’ve made that mistake. The Clear terminal caught the issue and the Clear rep had TSA verified her ID and they passed us through.
We headed for the tram to take us to our gate here at MCO. We’re departing from gate 13 today and everything is showing right on time.
A pro tip here at MCO is to walk to the far end of the trams. Because they just run back and forth when the tram arrives at the terminal it will reverse direction and you’ll be the first one into the terminal if you ride in the first car.
The view from the tram is always good, but that’s about the only good part of the Orlando APM.
The gate agent was very friendly as we boarded out of gate B13 here at MCO. The airport is a mad house, just absolutely mobbed with kids and spring breakers.
Silver Airways Boarding Process
Our little pink ATR42 waiting to take us to Greenville.
Silver Airways had a gate with a jet bridge, but at the end is a ramp. ATRs board from the rear so we get to walk outside before taking the stairs at the rear of the plane.
The cargo area on an ATR42 is between the cabin and the cockpit so we’re boarding via the rear of the plane. Old school here today, using the stairs on the back of the plane’s door, I love it.
I don’t think it would be a Silver Airways Review without this picture. How great is this?
Silver Airways Seat Review
We found our seats on the right side of the plane. The seating on Silver’s ATR is arranged in 12 rows of 4. Pretty normal for the ATR 42.
The leg room was adequate, not amazing but with our backpacks in the overhead bin, there’s plenty of space for us. It’s still a small plane and I’d equate the space to similar to a CRJ900 or ERJ175, that I’ve reviewed a few times. Much better than what you’d find on a CRJ200.
No in seat entertainment, Wifi, or power on the Silver ATR42. That’s ok, Silver’s route map focus mostly around Florida and the Caribbean, GSP is actually the most norther flight that Silver flies.
The overhead bins on the ATR42 are pretty large, easily big enough for a regular carry on bag.
The air vents on the overhead panel are great. But there’s not much else to review up here. Looks like a mostly full flight today up to Greenville. There was some confusion amongst the other passengers. Some of them had book what they thought was a United Airlines flight. They didn’t realize that it’s actually flown by Silver Airways.
The flight attendant was very nice as she came through and helped with luggage and checking for seatbelts.
We boarded very quickly and within about 10 minutes we’re only waiting on one passenger. Hopefully he/she/they arrive soon, sounds like we’re ready to go. The pilots gave their welcome and told us it should be a pretty smooth flight once we’re above the local clouds. The Silver ATR being a turbo prop, our cruise altitude is only 23k feet and will take 1:50. So it’s a little longer than if riding in a jet, but over short legs, the jet speed advantage is really diminished.
Silver Airways Departure Review
The flight attendant closed the door and started the pre-recorded welcome briefing. She then began the safety briefing as we pushed back. Looks like we’ll be a few minutes early today, always welcome.
We fired up the engines and taxied over the the runway. Riding in small planes like Silver’s ATR is a little different than larger planes. The first is they get off the ground a little differently. They seem very willing to fly and after just a fraction of the runway, we’re airborne.
However, ATRs just don’t climb nearly as quickly as their jet counterparts. So it did take us a few minutes to get above the clouds. It was very smooth though as we made a few turns as we pointed out nose towards Greenville.
Silver Airways Review In Flight Drink Service
As we climbed the flight attendant came around and offered small bottles of water. The little tray tables match the little ATR.
The people sitting in front of us are a little odd. Nearly as soon as we’re off the ground they fully reclined their seats right into my knees. Then they got up to grab things from their bags in the overhead. The flight attendant scolded him as we’re still very actively climbing and the seat belt sign is still on.
For some reason this passenger found it a necessity to get an eye mask, blanket, 3 magazines, and a neck pillow. This is a sub 2 hour flight from Florida to South Carolina, I’d love to see what he packs on a flight to Asia.
Silver Airways Review Bathrooms
As we crossed the boarder into Georgia, the seat belt sign was turned off. We took a more easterly route than I was expecting, flying off the coast of Jacksonville just a few miles off the coast. The pilot was right, it’s a nice smooth day for flying.
The bathroom is at the rear of the plane and is pretty large, especially for an aircraft of this size.
Silver Airways In Flight Review
I love the fantastically pink planes that Silver has, I wish they would bring a little of that into the cabin. In here it’s mostly the usual grey.
The flight attendant came through and collected the trash and I settled into a downloaded episode of Trailer Park Boys. No entertainment or power on these flights but I always travel with my external battery pack.
Silver Airways Arrival into Greenville
We slowly started to descend and the pilot came on to tell us we’re about 70 miles south of the airport. Also that we should be on the ground in about 20 minutes. Looks like we’re scheduled to land right on time. Little cloudy here in South Carolina and looking to be in the low 80s.
Passing through the clouds was a little bumpy on our little ATR, nothing crazy, but these smaller planes are a little rougher than larger ones. We’re approaching GSP from the east today.
And on the ground here at GSP after just under 2 hours. This same flight on a jet aircraft would probably be about 20 minutes shorter, but honestly who cares. I’ll gladly take a turbo prop on short flights like MCO-GSP
And once again the best part is walking down stairs to leave the plane. Jet bridges are dumb and all boarding/de-planeing should be done by stairs.
Silver Airways Review Final Thoughts
Silver Airways’ ATRs are a nice little plane. I think I’d rather ride on the ATR42 over a CRJ200 but would opt for a CRJ7/9 or ERJ170/190 instead. It’s also fun for me to fly on unique or interesting planes. So a small regional airline using somewhat uncommon ATRs is a winner for me. I know the ATR is rare, but they aren’t super popular in the US. I’m really glad that GSP is able to attract routes like this to MCO and Contour Airline to BNA that I’ve reviewed a few times.
I will say that the ATR is a little louder than a similar sized jet. Just the nature of having props. I’d probably avoid sitting too far forward as those seats are louder due to the proximity to the engines and props. You’re also last to deplane as the ATR boards from the rear.
At the end of the day and bottom line of the Silver Airways review is that I would gladly fly this route again and I really enjoyed my trip. What’s not to love about a little pink ATR42 taking me home on a direct flight.