Originally Posted by
ZeroTT
Totally agree. There are even credible rumors now that one route at my airport is being up-gauged from RJ to a 737.
But "could be consolidated" and "market supports consolidation" are different things. An airline running 6X day two class RJ will take market share from a competitor running 2X day 737. (Same as 2/day 787 beats 1/day A380)
See, that demonstrates that there isn't a NEED for the RJs, even if there is a desire for frequency it doesn't really have as much of an impact if there aren't really any RJs out there. There isn't really a good example of the RJs taking market share from the 737s either.
Nevermind that you used two class RJs as your example when the discussion is about whether there is a need for single class 50 seaters. When it comes to those, it's already known that there are passengers who book away from the 50 seat RJs.
The 787 vs 380 comparison isn't really a good one though as the A380 apparently has the highest cost per seat mile of any mainline aircraft currently in service.
And again, this discussion is about whether there is really a need for them in the entire industry, not speculation on how much benefit there is to the higher frequency, although I maintain that there are diminishing returns with that as well. There are many cases where a better product that isn't as often might provide a higher yield and market share. Of course, with American's current drive towards making the experience on mainline as uncomfortable as possible, it might actually be a better experience on the RJs at this point.