Originally Posted by
Wingtips
I was talking UAL in regards to 737.
AA would love to trade half the 80s for 70 seat rjs.
So what will fly routes like ORD MKE? ORD IND?
MIA TLH
MIA NAS
MIA GNV
MIA BHM
JFK PIT
JFK CLE
LGA CRW
those 319s?
You're right, they would. Larger RJ's will fly many of the current Eagle routes, but some are too small/short to justify larger RJ's with the necessary frequency. The Bahamas wont be sreved from MIA with RJ's (not enough cargo capacity). ORD-MKE/IND are perfect for the Q400. It will do it almost as fast as an RJ at the same altitude, for half the cost.
U has 9 feeders with about as many aircraft as Eagle, but with perhaps 120 larger RJ's instead of 47. Several are pure turboprop operators. An AA/U merge would be 10 regionals with 600 aircraft and 6000 pilots.
Too many of both. AMR wants to add 288 large RJ's (if they get their term sheet wishes) and many of those would be replacement aircraft. That network will shrink substantially. The additional of A319Neo's on the mainline will take some of those routes back.
So, how many of the 6000 regional pilots will make the cut and who ?
I'd bet more downsizing/furloughs on that side then the mainline side. An AA/U merge is a bumpy ride.
Only PDT is the pure turbo prop operator for US Airways. Colgan has a few left but they are gone in the next few months. They only flew the EAS routes and they found someone another carrier to take those routes. We just have PDT flying the props and the contract carriers flying PHL-ABE in the RJ. 13 minute flight on both. Same with CLT-FLO.