smiem

I can choose between Air Wisconsin and Republic Air for a US Airways flight PWM to PHL on 6/7/15.

I am not familiar with either of these regional airlines. Is one better than the other for on time reliability, safety etc? Not too concerned with comfort as it's a short flight.

One option is a flight operated by US Airways but it's a very early morning flight and with a 90 minute drive from North Conway, NH to PWM I'm not sure it's practical. And maybe not any different as far as safety and reliability.

I have flown hundreds of segments on Horizon Air in the north west and am familiar with smaller plans. But there is comfort in familiarity and I am not familiar at all with Air Wisconsin or Republic Air.

Thoughts?

Often1

PWM-PHL is a very short hop. There won't even be more than time for coffee/soda anyway. I would book the better schedule and price and not worry about which express carrier.

If you do opt for the early AM flight, spend the night in Portland before.

danohio

Both operators are fine, safety wise, but the difference is that Air Wisconsin operates CRJs and Republic operates Embraer 175s. The E75s are a much better and more comfortable ride than the all-coach CRJ-200s. The CRJs are tight fit for pretty much every passenger.

gruss

Republic and Air Wisconsin fly most of the routes out of ALB and unless schedule dictates, I always try to book Republic. The planes are way nicer (don't need to gate check rollaboards on Republic, there's actually room to sit comfortably) and they arrive in B/C concourse at PHL instead of out at F.

In questionable weather (in my experience at least), Air Wisconsin flights seem to get canceled more regularly than Republic.

smiem

Thanks for the replies. Good to know about Air Wisconsin gate check for carryon bags and terminal F From the PHL airport map, it looks like F is all alone. Do you take a shuttle to main terminal? We are catching an Alaska flight at 6 pm that night and it's in terminal D. We are only taking carryon's and will have plenty of time if we need to go through security again. We have pre-check and that could help. But 5 hours between flights will give us plenty of time!

Now my biggest concern is weather. June is typically nice, but not sure how fog affects things in early June at PWM. 9:15 am flight on Air Wisconsin or 11:20 am flight on Republic.

Oh the joys of travel...

LowlyDLsilver

The shuttle from F is a grody old bus, but the transfer is airside so no need to go back through security if you choose that option.

With plenty of time on the Republic connection - there's no decision to be made, Republic unless the price difference is huge. Terminally F'd and Air Whiskey CRJs are both best avoided if possible.

Railtester

Most republic flights dock at terminal B or C in Philadelphia so you won't have to take the bus unless your connection is at F.

ericcheung

agreed on the republic option

bridge29

I agree with the posters here -- but can I just say that for all the hate Terminal F gets because of the shuttle, it's actually a beautiful terminal (brand new), pleasant, easy to use and with great restaurants.

MEABFlyer

I flew PWM-PHL 40+ times last year and again this morning. Take the Republic flight. The E170/175 is much more pleasant than the CRJ200 even if it's only 90 minutes of flying. The other thing to remember is that the drive from N. Conway to PWM is a lot of backroads and in the morning at that time of year you still run the risk of getting stuck behind every school bus southern Maine.

Delays due to fog are quite rare, in my experience.

LowlyDLsilver

The remodel is nice, no doubt.

The "dump truck" thread was memorable

The operations nightmare that is Terminal F whenever God sneezes - No, Gracias