Originally Posted by
Half wing
You know these are not new frames right? They are converting their old CRJ-700’s(still a fair amount of life on them). It is a desperate move in my opinion. From a passenger standpoint it will be about the nicest 50 seater ever. From a company standpoint, it is the most expensive 50 seater ever. UA must be flush with cash. “Let’s turn our old 70 seaters into 50 seaters so we can get more new 70 seaters(EMB-175’s).” Kirby is probably thinking if we cave on scope they can convert them back to 70 seaters. Obviously ain’t happening.
Originally Posted by
Flytolive
I didn't realize these were used aircraft. I agree that this makes them look even more desperate although it is probably more cost effective. Thanks for clearing that up.
Originally Posted by
cadetdrivr
Originally Posted by
Ni hao
- GoJet Airlines signed a Letter of Intent with United; 10 year contract, 50 CRJ-550’s.
- 18 feet longer than any other 50-seater, adds WiFi, Snack/Beverage station (self-serve for First Class).
- Only for United flying / No Delta.
- “Will need to add a lot of pilots to the team”
- Only 1 Flight Attendant
- ORD, EWR, possibly DEN and New York in future
- Expect 47-48 lines of flying with 2-3 spares (TBD).
- Bombardier considers it a “CL-65” – no new type rating for pilots, but expect differences training similar to when they added the CRJ-900
- Union negotiations started yesterday discussing pay regarding 50-seater
- Over ½ our current First Officers are already eligible to upgrade to Captain and they need those to be willing to do so…
- Still doing Direct Entry Captain program, but would love not to (i.e. FO’s need to upgrade internally)
- Starting a new “Near Entry Captain” program next week to entice other company F.O.’s to a quick upgrade at GoJet Airlines
- As United adds the E-175 to ExpressJet, they must ground a CRJ-700… hence GoJet grounds a 700 at 1-for-1 pace to the E-175 addition at ExpressJet, and expects to add the CRJ-550 at the same pace or possibly even quicker.
- Actively working toward a United Flow / Pathway Program / CPP…
- Expect Mid-June is the earliest for first CRJ-550. Mid-summer likely.
- Captain Bonuses? – Will look at readdressing them, however acknowledges GoJet Airlines is a stepping stone and cannot compete with the mainline “dreams” and most pilots are not targeting GoJet as their final resting place, hence with limited funds are only looking to compete well on pay scale. Says we compete well with SkyWest and Republic and honestly with those limited funds, can’t afford to pay extra bonuses. But will re-address.
I believe blowjet has 25 CRJ700's flying for united express, which United has to park on a 1-1 basis as the 175SC's show up to ExpressJet. GoJet, Mesa, Skywest are the only 3 that fly 700's for UAL, and they're not coming out of skywest's CPA. I'm sure Bombardier will design the cabin refresh program so they can refurbish old 700's to the CRJ550, see if the idea sticks before they start up the CRJ700 production line again, and then start selling new ones. CRJ900 is the only CRJ currently being produced. I guess we won't know for sure until UALPA makes a statement on exactly where the 70 seaters are being reduced from to accommodate the 175SC's for ExpressJet.
Maybe i'm in the minority, but I think the CRJ550 is actually a good idea (in limited quantity) because of all the premium seating. United could run one of these every hour or increase frequency between mainline flights between IAD/ORD/EWR & BOS/DCA (or any popular business route).
From the points guy article:
So far, the airline only confirmed that it’ll fly between Chicago (ORD) and Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas (XNA). United is apparently losing out on business from Walmart employees and suppliers looking to fly in premium cabins — with more first-class seats on the way, XNA flyers will have an easier time booking premium-cabin United travel between Arkansas and Asia.
And the proof I can find so far they're used:
With 50 CRJ550s already ordered, and the potential to add more later, we’ll see them on many more routes out of Chicago, in addition to regional flights from other United hubs, including Newark (EWR) on the East Coast. Pending government approval, United’s regional jet operator
GoJet is expected to begin flying the 550 by the second half of this year.
If you think Bombardier can certify, build, and deliver a brand new airplane in less than a year, i've got some oceanfront property in Nebraska for you :-)
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-crj550/