Originally Posted by
acl65pilot
IMO the CS-100 falls short. Its CASM is the same at a CRJ-900. That makes it a deal breaker in my opinion. It will be the CS-300, 195 or the 195X. (or anything else they come up with)
The issue is finding a jet with a CASM they can live with on mainline. I truly believe that the MEC is not willing to budge on this. If they do, I will be furloughed and it will no longer be my issue. ( a blessing for many)
One of the "game changers" since the CRJ50, 700 and 900 were ordered is the price of fuel. I'm not just talking about the price today - it's the potential price. It looks like those planes became very unprofitable when the fuel price went above $100. Most of those planes were ordered prior to 2003 when oil was at $30 a barrel. The oil price back then, plus the low labor costs (across the board, not just the pilots) of operating them at DCI made them profitable.
When you double or triple the price of oil, I think they become unprofitable, no matter what the labor price. If I were Delta, I'd want to order aircraft that can generate a mainline RASM. I'm talking a first class, ability to have some sort of IFE with enough seats to spread the fuel cost around. Hopefully our MEC will insist that size aircraft be flown at mainline.
If Delta is going to fly a plane DFW-LGA, it's going to have to compete with AA or Jetblue who have (or will have) some sort of IFE/WiFi. I think Embraer has a good product - the CSeries isn't even made yet, so I don't know what that will be like.
It's interesting that you think Delta is going to have to start order/planning for narrow body aircraft. The company seems to be focused on the MD88/90 as having "many years of service". NWA made the DC9 last a long time - a lot longer than people though. Maybe refurbishing the MD88s will be out narrow body "order".