The JFK-DCA sector is 211 miles. The service standard for DL and Delta Connection flights are that flights LESS than 250 miles are not scheduled for a service in Y class. All flights receive service in F class, regardless of sector length.

Given the policy, there should have been no service on the Pinnacle operated flight and only the F cabin should have received a service on the Mesaba operated flight. Most FAs still make an effort to provide at least something on these short flights, even though the service standards do not require them to. This unfortunately is a double edged sword. It makes the FAs who follow the policy look lazy, when in fact they're just doing their jobs.

A few things to think about... the CRJ200 galley carts are packed differently than the CRJ900 carts and require far less set-up. Therefore it's much easier for 1 FA on the CRJ200 to perform a quick service. It's also a lot easier to do a quick service when the flight isn't full.

On the 900, consider this: the only galley on the plane is in the front. Both Y and F carts are in the same place and there is very little room to move around. Given the fact that the F class FA has to perform a full service, it would make it very difficult for the Y class FA to set up his/her entire cart and prepare to serve 64 people, all the while the F class FA has to set up his/her cart to serve the F cabin. Once again, the carts on the 900 are packed differently and require much more set up (time) than the ones on the 200.

In the end, the FAs on both your flights were going above and beyond the service standards which are again, set by Delta.