Originally Posted by
flyallnite
I've been hearing we want more CS 300's as opposed to the 100's. The 300 is comparable in capacity to the A319, but with lower seat/mile costs. It's looking like a west coast or possibly intermountain west airplane at the introduction. Where it will really shine is going up against Alaska in thinner markets out west. If Delta exercises all the options, it will probably be all over the system doing some interesting city pairs. It's also being considered for some Latin America routes, as it has a lot of capability performance and nav-wise. Not sure if the -100's will be as well liked by management. I see those as more like the 737-700's. Great performers on certain routes, but not a great investment for the airline. All that could change though if the idea is to cut way back on outsourced regional flying, and go to a more rationalized feed with the CS 100 into the hubs, something that's already happening with the 717. As for the first base, looks like LAX is the leading contender.
These are good points. I guess some of this depends on how quickly Delta wants to replace the MD88s. The CS300 would be a great replacement for the MD88 from a capacity standpoint (although it offers a lot more capability) whereas the CS100 seems to be more ideal for longer and thinner routes like LAX to destinations in the Midwest or destinations too far for the 717 - especially on important business routes where inflight comfort is critical for business travelers (i.e., non-RJ routes). The CS300 has a better CASM with the extra seats than the CS100. In Europe, SWISS evidently plans to use the CS100 and CS300 interchangeably throughout Europe on both shorter and medium segments.
Again, the CS300 opens up a lot of route options Delta does not currently have for that seating range. SEA to RSW or maybe LGA to TUS would be feasible. It would be great for the Boeing executives to fly SEA to CHS on a CS100/300.
By the way, Korean Air is scheduled to soon get the first of seven CS300s due to arrive this year. Pilots are already training on it and I believe Korean has a total of 20 orders & options on the CS300.