Originally Posted by
CAAC ATP
I understand the difficulty of commuting on a full flight, however I do take issue with such a blanket statement. Just because Regionals are having difficulty doesn't mean that "RJ" sized (70-90 seat mainline jets) are going to go away. We should be more concerned about capturing this flying than insulting it. That's partially what got us here in the first place.
It's not an insult. The fact is that regional jets have fewer seats, so I as a commuter have fewer options because they're always full. Likewise, a Comair pilot on a "Delta" flight operated by Comair bumps me out of the jumpseat as a Delta pilot on a "Delta" flight.
I prefer to fly American on my commute to MSP from DFW simply because I'm more likely to get a seat because they fly either MD-80's or 737's with lots of seats. If I try to fly on a Delta 64-seater, I usually can't get on.
If you work for say, SkyWest, wouldn't you prefer to tell the passengers that this is SkyWest flight XXXX?
Actually the E-175 is pretty comfortable, and so is the E-190. They should be flown by Delta pilots. Also, between major markets like DFW-MSP, I think that should be mainline. Now MSP-RAP (Rapid City), sure, it's a small market and smaller jets are appropriate.