If everyone getting on has to gate check their crap, its a regional jet.

Hahah. Seriously.

The line between what is regional and what is mainline is definitely becoming more and more indiscernible. Ask an Airways guy if he thinks the EMB-190 belongs on property and if your experience is anything compared to mine, he will tell you it's a regional jet being used by the airline to drive down their pay. I agree. I still see planes like the EMB-190, 195 and CRJ-1000 as regional airplanes meant for regional carriers. Although great airplanes, they just don't have the feel or performance that many "mainline" planes like the 737 have. Personally I see these new planes as a chance for regional pilots to make a stand and demand more pay. Personally I think one of the reasons our pay is so low is because companies have justified it by comparing our pay to the amount of passengers we carry - 50 passengers doesn't sound like that many so don't pay them very much. Now that that the line between mainline and regional is becoming blurred, maybe a regional will step up and pay their pilots respectably to fly this new breed of 100+ pax airplane. A smart regional would as I see these new airplanes as the birds of the future, coming into popularity as the inefficient CRJ-200's and ERJ-145's are phased out.

Look at that thing. Looks like when it hits turb it'll snap!

The DC-9s are all considered mainline A/C and the -10 variant sat 80 pax. Thats less than the E-175 and the CRJ-1000 FWIW

But you can bring your bags on it....:)

When the " RJ" stands for "Regional Jet" its a regional jet...Second tier question is that NO JET should be flown by ANYONE making 20-30k regardless of the pre-fix.

Also those 80 pax had leg room on a diesel 9. On any RJ a 5'4" person feels cramped....I'm 6'5" Ouch

Ha!!! Couldn't have said it better!

was surprised a few weeks back when my wife and i rode to philly on a republic 170. I had ridden the 190 out of CLT on mainline once, and was the last passenger on the aircraft, and over my seat i had enough bin space for my overnight bag, and on the opposite side of the plane, i had enough room for my flight case. Was very very impressed, when on a republic 170, they were checking the last 5-10 bags that were coming on board, stood out as interesting. Makes me wonder if with the decrease in length, the overhead bin space (per passenger) was reduced some?

Also, i have a hard time believing that companies will pay their employees more to fly these larger 100 seat aircraft. When good companies (or even bad companies) go to the negotiating table they all start from the same play book, pay as little as you can get away with. The company doesn't WANT to pay you a RESPECTABLE wage to fly the airplanes, if they did that, it'd eat into profits, and management bonuses. Also, soon as company A decides to to pay their pilots more, company B will swoop in offer their pilots the ability to fly the same airplane, but for a couple bucks less, and the pilots will agree to it so they can get the planes on property (with the hopes of negotiating better pay at a later date), company A will now not be competitive, and all those pilots with better pay will be trying to find other jobs....it's happened before, and, sadly, will happen again.

What it comes down to are the pilot groups at the majors. They can't relax the scope. If they relax today they get a short term gain for a long term loss. We all get screwed.