Originally Posted by
VelvetJones
While I agree that small turbo-props can be unpleasant, why the dislike for CRJs? I love them. Only two seats per side so no middle, and boarding and de-boarding is a lot quicker. They are slightly bumpier than a 737 or 757 in lower altitude, but once you are at cruising level I really don't notice much of a difference.
The seats are small and the cabin is cramped. As for boarding and offloading, if I'm on a mainline plane I have my bag overhead and once I'm off the plane - usually within a minute or so since I'm either in first or the very front of economy - I'm done. On a CRJ and the smaller ERJs, I'm waiting either on the tarmac or jet bridge for someone to give me my carry-on bag.
So, the seats are narrow, there's no shoulder room since the cabin has a small radius, the bathrooms are small, etc etc. They're fine for 500 mile flights where it used to be puddle jumpers, but since airlines are flying them on 1000-mile and longer flights, I've grown to hate them in general. If the airlines kept them to REGIONAL status, as the name of them implies, then fine. Flying from Dulles to Austin or Houston or from Chicago to Salt Lake City on one is torture IMHO, with 4+ hours possible with flight and ground time.