Originally Posted by
flyallnite
The 76 vs 70 seat size is huge because what is actually out there is the 65 seat CRJ 700, which seats 65, the ERJ 170 which seats 69, the CRJ 900 which seats 76 and the ERJ 175 which also seats 76. The addition of more first class and coach seats make the larger 76 seat jet an order of magnitude more efficient than the so called 70 seat jet, neither of which actually seat 70 passengers. This product is a job killer for us and DL knows it. The 50 AND the 70 seat RJ's are inefficient, and the company wants to dump them. This is really the only chance we have of restructuring domestic feed in the long run. If we allow the company to outsource flying by giving them an efficient platform to do so, we have only ourselves to blame.
That's true, and if we keep the current contract for a few more years fighting it out for a 25% immediate raise, and still add the 717s and MD90s, we will get an extra 32 76 seaters to the max of 255, not 223 that is in the current TA. Those extra 76 seaters are nicer, and will eat away at even more of our premium routes. They will get them one way or the other, and may not pay us any raises in the meantime. All they have to do is add planes and keep us at our current payrates for a couple more years, and they are paid off.