<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FWAAA:
3. Cost. They cost almost as much as a B-717 but don't have the space (for passengers or overhead stowage). All they offer AA is lower pilot costs.</font>
The per unit crew cost for an RJ is significantly higher than for a mainline aircraft due to the smaller number of seats and lower average speed per block hour. The cost savings with the RJ is in direct operating cost, not in labor cost.
The RJs make economic sense for the airlines not because of low costs, even total per unit cost is higher than for mainline jets. RJs make economic sense because with so many fewer seats you don't have the overcapacity problem which forces so many deeply discounted ticket sales. Average yield on RJ flights can be significantly higher than on mainline flights which more than compensates for the slightly higher total per unit cost.