Economically it may be worse, but consider also that part of the reason it was a "lost decade" for pilots was the lack of retirements. That is a major difference that should make the current situation less painful for us this time around, especially after a year or two.

United was going to do a bunch of things a few months ago. That playbook is in the trash. They are now talking about the possibility of retiring 767’s that they spent millions on recently upgrading to the Polaris configuration. Any plans for an interior improvement on the 50 seat fleet are probably long gone. It’s hard to believe how fast and dramatically things have changed.

Yes I know. This was to make the point that the cabin refresh did not by itself show favor to 145s over 200s. It does not support the idea the United likes 145s more than 200s. It certainly is true that all capital expenditures like that are gone for now.

I don’t know what they favor, but when Kirby talked about United fleet retirements he went back and forth from best case to worse case. When he threw in the comment on the 50 seat flying, it sounded like they have made a decision that regardless, it will be “a thing of the past”. I would think that when the big boss says something like that, it shouldn’t be considered spoken out of context, that’s only worst case, etc. I think that he meant it. The question is when. Will it come early or late in the recovery, somewhere in the middle, or will they change their mind? It’s a guessing game at this point.

But isn't guessing fun?? 😎

We have no bloody clue when this virus will be curbed or cured if that. We have no clue when the economy will start to recover.

Call me a simpleton but would I rather focus on saving money after a pandemic or blowing it on air travel? This virus caught America and Americans with our pants down and butts bare. People are definitely thinking what’s important to them now or should have taken importance.

Even when the economy opens up, recovery won’t be overnight or even 6 months. The damage this thing has done will take a long time to recover from. China just started reopening stuff and had to shut it down again because the virus started coming back. Factor that in as well, it won’t go away completely.

Everything is being dictated by the virus and some dork sitting on his computer sipping Earl Grey tea at UND or Riddle can’t be right. When the hell did a virus REALLY impact the airline world like this? Even bird flu or swine flu didn’t do this kind of damage. A company like Emirates is bleeding through its rear end and looking for money even with their subsidies.

People will be afraid to travel unless everyone is like woohoo let’s get on a plane because everything is dandy. It isn’t the invisible enemy for nothing. Would you feel safe right after a pandemic getting on a wide body or CRJ with someone right next to you?

Of course we want to be positive, plan for the worst and hope for the best but this is unchartered territory for EVERYONE not just airline pilots and nobody has a real answer on how we’ll overcome this.

If the 50 seaters go then they go and it’s better we adopt a mindset of accepting that now than be given a rude awakening later and thinking of a backup plan of employment. If they stay then perfect for us and it’s happy days...

just my two cents.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-nowhere...190704591.html



read this

Install WiFi on the CRJ 200’s and people will be happy they’ll be able to stay connected even for a 1:45 flight.


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Bingo. I’ve been saying this for months. WiFi and BYOD entertainment will immediately placate a good chunk of the CRJ’s naysayers.

Exactly, then all they need to fix is the tiny, cramped cabin with no ability to bring carry on luggage, plus the issue of having to walk outside on a noisy ramp to get to the plane. I really don’t know why Kirby said what he did.