Lootsy1031

Today I took UA7146 LAX to PHX, in F (!), operated by Mesa Airlines. The aircraft is a 70-seat (or so) Canadair Regional Jet 700-series. A few observations:

F is six seats, two rows of three across (as you all know, coach in the CRJ is four across in a 2-2 configuration). So, obviously, in a row, one seat must be by itself, while two are together. A big question – is the “A” seat the seat by itself, or is the “F” seat the one by itself?? This turned out to be more of a conundrum than one would think. Seatmap.com indicates that the F seat is the seat by itself (both a window and an aisle seat). But, united.com indicates that the A seat is the one by itself. A quick call to the 1K line also indicates that the A seat is the one by itself. So, it’s all settled, right? WRONG. Upon checking in, Mr. EasyCheckIn indicates that the F seat is by itself.

So which is it?

The 1K line is right (thank goodness – all those hard-earned miles have paid off!). The “A” seat is the one by itself.

However, the over-head bin space (always an issue on regional jets) is non-existent in half of the F cabin. Literally. The bins are locked closed on the “A” side of the plane (only in F). Don’t know why.

For those of you used to the 50-seat CRJ, F-class on the 70-seater is a completely different experience. The cabin almost feels spacious!! Any of you who have been on American’s MD80s will find it very familiar: the seat pitch, width, even the material (leather) is very similar. For those of you who have not been on AA’s ubiquitous MD80s, the seats are a bit hard, but they’re in blue leather (as are the coach seats). Curiously, the seats are short – that is, I’m only 5’6”, and if I lean back the head of the seat is below the top of my head (this does not happen on mainline seats – I never care if the headrest actually extends, because I never need it). Seat width is a tad narrower than 737 F-class seats, but beats the heck out of the regular CRJ (coach) seats, and is about the same as MD80 F seats. Pitch is about 36-37” in my estimation – perhaps just a touch short of 737 or 320/319 F-class pitch (but no annoying box under the seat in front of you). The recline is very generous, and is about what you’d expect in “regular” domestic F-class.

Service. There were two flight attendants, both of whom were very attentive. There was a pre-flight beverage offered (and not just the “orange juice or water” routine – a huge improvement over mainline, if you ask me). The service in-flight was akin to the old “Shuttle” service: the FA worked F-class first, then serviced a portion of the coach cabin before coming back to service the front cabin again. Plastic cups for all beverages.

The aircraft itself was very new. It even had that “new car/airplane smell”. The FA’s said that they had just been trained on it, and that they were only two months into their UA contract.

All in all, a very worthwhile aircraft!! While it’s not anywhere close to a 737 (or even an MD80), it is certainly far more pleasant than the “regular” CRJ. And, I would take F-class on this CRJ before coach on any of the aforementioned aircraft.

Sadly, the FA told me that Mesa is thinking about ditching the F-cabin due to lack of demand (there was only one other passenger in the 6-seat F-cabin with me today). I certainly hope they find a way to keep it – it represents such a huge improvement over the regular CRJ.

Perhaps I’ll start booking on UA again to Phoenix. After they got rid of the 737s to PHX, I tried the CRJ service – but I got much better service on (gasp!) Southwest, so I was starting to defect. Now, however, I’m starting to think I’ve got another option (don’t even talk to me about America West – I get better service on WN than I do in HP’s F-class!!).

Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope this info is helpful.