Until a couple of weeks ago, all of my US domestic travel has been on American, which has relatively few regional jets, and none with more than 50 seats. The last couple of weeks I've been traipsing back and forth from East Coast destinations, using USAirways, and except for one Airbus I've been on nothing but regional jets. I don't consider a flight that crosses half a continent to be a 'regional' flight, but that's what they have. I've had RJ's DFW/PHL and DCA/DFW. I can understand that flying to BTV you will be on a little plane, but a 1300 mile flight? I figured out that, with no status, I wasn't getting anything in the overhead and brought a bag that I could squish under the seat, but they really don't have much on-board storage. This is not as much fun as it used to be. I will never complain about a Mad Dog again!
My first experience with a regional jet had me at the JFK terminal taking a bus to the plane... I didn't even know they still did that. It was a flight to RDU with Delta I think.
My first trip on a UA RJ was IAD-SAT which was just plain mean. Slightly over 3 hours. Ouch, even in E+. I think the various airlines are stretching the definition of "region" to mean that North America is a region.
I believe that CO is still exclusively using RJ's on the IAH-YYZ route. OUCH!! At least US has the E170-190 series RJ's, which are one-class mainline jets in drag.
Yeah, I believe that's what US is flying on the DCA-DFW route the OP mentioned above, which is certainly better than a Canadair or something awful like that...
RJ's aren't fun, I'm flying CLE-DFW tommorrow on on CO exp ERJ 145, at least I have the single exit row. I'd take a 170 any day.
On my DCA/DFW E170 we had a young and spiffy FA who wore 5" stilettos the whole flight. I hope the deck isn't damaged!
It is a little nuts how far they will fly some of the RJs. But personally, I think the E170/175 is every bit as comfortable as many of the smaller mainline jets (especially the older 737s). I despise flying on most of the Canadair RJs (especially the 200s). I have resorted to booking almost exclusively Republic for RJ flights, since they heavily (or is it always) use the E170/175. The backup is Wisconsin who uses the C65, which feels larger than the C200-900s, but it may just be the way they configure the seats.
I thought the plane from PHL to DFW was a E-190, not a 170. I am a fan of the Republic 170/175 for US, very comfy and when traveling with a partner, no strange in the row with you. I esp like the 190 with the FC I don't mind them on long flights, though the time I flew PHL to DFW it was a 190 and I was up front, so I can't comment on a 3.5 hour flight in an ERJ170/190 is like in the back.
The CRJ-200's are the WORST! I find the E170/175's to be really comfortable. They feel more spacious than the coach cabin of regular mainline jets, due to the relatively wide seats and lack of the middle seat.
As far as I know, PHL-DFW is an E-190 on US, and it is technically a main line flight..I do like the E-jets much better than the lawn darts..they make all the difference in the world. I did IAH-CLT in a CRJ-200 once - brutal....and did ISP-ATL almost weekly--780 miles is just about the limit of tolerability in those things. I think I was more comfortable in a Dash-8-200Q I took from HHH to DCA once...
Granted in my opinion an ERJ-145 is better than a CRJ, but I know that Continental currently flies an ERJ-145 on EWR-OKC...1325 miles, and depending on headwind, anywhere from 3 to 3.5 hours of actual flying time! Crazy!!
At least with the ERJ there is the option of 12A p), or at least a single seat on one side. US flies CRJ's on some long routes, as well.....granted, not as long as some of CO's E-145 routes, but I'd rather be in 12A or even a single seat on a 1325 mile flight than in any seat on a CRJ for 900 miles. If US would just retire the CRJ 200's and replace them with CRJ 900's with a small F cabin, they would make MANY customers very happy!
My next trip shows an E190 DFW/PHL, mainline US. Then it shows an E170 PHL/BTV, which may or may not be true. The last time I was up there it was a CRJ. I think Air Wisconsin rolls out one of whatever they have that works. My return (via DCA) is an E170 - Republic. I don't mind the seating too much, but the bag fees drive so many to carry on so much that it's hard to find a place for my coat.
An E170 will be flown by Republic, not Air Wisconsin, so the only likelihood would be a swap from a 170 to the larger 175. Air Wisky only operates the CRJ for US. Tomorrow, there are PHL-BTV flights on CRJs at 11:34, 2:03 and 4:20, and on E175s at 9:30 am and 9pm. Same Monday, except the 11:34 is operated with an E170 instead of a CRJ.
I just looked this up on Flight Aware, and you're not joking! It looks like that flight is in the 3:00 to 3:20 flying time range...but it actually says it's in a CRJ, which is waaaaay worse than an E145!
i dunno man... i just flew an E145 CHA-DFW and back on AA and pretty much hated life. and if you got stuck on a window seat on the right side (like my buddy did) you lose a lot of leg room. it's all hell.
C'mon... American has RJs with more than 50 seats. They have a ton of CR7s. The E-170 is much nicer than the CRJ-700 (except that the US 170s didn't have first class but are getting them soon). On US they have union mandated levels of minimum mainline flying (of which the 190 is excluded from). they're running close to that and they're going to cut express to reduce capacity. I'm pretty happy about that. One route that i end up a lot is LGA-CLT. This route is mainly operated by 321s and CRJs. they have CRJs operating within 30 minutes of the 321 flights. I always wonder who chooses a CRJ over a wifi equipped 321.
