Last spring a friend and I planned our annual golf trip to Myrtle Beach. We are fortunate to live in an area where we can choose to travel from one of two major airports, either Philadelphia (PHL) or Newark (EWR). We usually fly out of Philadelphia, then connect in Charlotte to get to Myrtle Beach. However, this year I found a direct flight at a great rate out of Newark. When we arrived at Newark for our flight, we learned that our aircraft was a turboprop. My traveling companion, who can be a bit of a whiner, was not happy to see the turboprop. He launched into a rant about how loud they can be, then broke into worn-out turboprop jokes including "Will we be dusting crops along the way?" And of course he couldn’t resist an irreverent Amelia Earhart joke. I suppose his expectations for the commuter jet were not inappropriate, given that in the early 2000s the commuter carriers were championing the benefits of the commuter jets and converting their entire fleets from turboprops. Fast forward to 2012, and a prominent commuter carrier recently shuttered its business because the costs of commuter jets were too high to sustain operations. Last week I read an article in Time covering the resurgence of the turboprop. Turns out the new turboprops use 50 percent less fuel, will have larger cabins and are more versatile since they can land on shorter runways, rough terrains and can reach more places than a commercial jet. Carriers are placing orders, providing some manufacturers with a three-year backlog. Best of all, especially for my whiny traveling companion, the new turbo props will be much quieter. If I’m lucky, he’ll be quieter too. — Mike Donahue, advisory board chairman