Originally Posted by Skyw

You nailed it! Large jets have a place in the future if you are a low cost airline like Spirit or Frontier. Smaller jets from 76 to 130 seats are expected to grow the most. The E175 can be configured to 88 seats and it would reduce the operating costs significantly. The MRJ doesn't meet scope restrictions, but it can be configured to 100 seats I believe. Boeing recognizes the future and that's why they want to buy/invest in Embraer.

The future without doubt is the low cost model. United has finally recognized it and that's why they are adding significant capacity to compete with the LCCs, but I don't think it will work. UAL doesn't have a low cost model, can they invest 50% in ExpressJet and other regionals and turn them into a low cost/codesharing airline? The B737/Airbus has an obvious place in the market, but it's saturated with LCCs that are growing capacity. United and other majors will have a difficult time in the international market with the growing LCCs as well. Lots of challenges ahead!