Originally Posted by
HSLD
Another factor that rarely gets attention in the RJ vs narrowbody economic debate is the cargo carrying capacity. Most legacy airlines have a dedicated cargo division that uses belly space in the domestic fleet for distribution. The advantage of a slight cost savings by deploying regional jets is offset or lost by the inability to carry cargo.
Not to mention checked bags. In a ten year career as a CAL rampie, the only time 737s left bags behind was on long central & S. America legs requiring alternates. RJs tend to leave bags behind on far more pedestrian segments. At an average of $50 to deliver each bag, the RJ savings can disapear entirely. But the department that pays for bag delivery is different from the one that pays for AC operations... Who wants to bet that butt covering bean counters never calculate the
true cost difference between a RJ and a Narrowbody?