Originally Posted by
Aviatormar
Umm, do you really think that pax care about comfort? Nope, they want the cheapest price possible (most of them), that's why I think the EJets are up a creek; they guzzle gas when a 700/900 does more for less. We'll have to see what happens. But who cares, all these planes, and the -200/145 for that matter, belong at mainline.
I agree. E175s were attactive to majors when gas was a whole lot cheaper than now. Now that the oil price has gone through the roof, I am getting feedbacks that E145s, CRj200s and even E175s are on their way out. As an example, if NWA/DAL merges, which appears imminent, NWA has options for any Bombardier products. This means even CRJ900s will be phased out in the next few years. NWA has experimented with E175s with Compass, and the results are not pretty. Maintenance tech has told me that E175s are having way too many problems and costs more to run than CRJ900s. DAL seems to prefer Boeing and US made aircraft, whereas NWA does not care as long as they are economical to operate. NWA DC9s will probably be replaced with Bombardier C Series aircraft to be flown by mainline pilots.
I think there will be a major reshuffling of regionals in the next few years and it will be good for some, but bad for the most. Emphasis will be on bigger jets with at least 100 seats, and unless they change the scvope clause, which I think is a very bad idea, this flying will remain at the majors. This means reduction in RJ flying whether it is E175s or CRJs. Major airlines are run by beancounters and they do not care about pax comfort on domestic routes where they do not make money.