Originally Posted by
PilotFrog
I think for Delta, pilots flying the 76 seater routes with mainline 717s has finally become economical and will continue to be so for the near future. The real reason is the anticipated turnover. As we start retiring 400-800 pilots a year, the turnover on the smaller fleet will be tremendous. And thereby allowing the cost of operating the 717 to be low. Of course that is assuming people will progress off the 717 to larger airframes.
The interesting part about 717s on 76 seater routes would be to know how many markets that never saw mainline before an RJ have now become mainline. If it was once mainline and went RJ and now back to mainline I see that as correcting a social injustice.
Well, that may be a little strong... maybe I should say it's a recapture of old markets.
See, I'm just curious how many turboprop or no previous service markets (small bait fish) were captured by jumbo RJs (3' shark) and were then captured by a tiger shark (DC9 derivatives)...
That pic reminds me, why do the PDCs from ATL only give you like the first fix after the DP while PDCs elsewhere give you the full route?