CRA/CR9 re-config and re-designation - details and progress
 

As someone who's stuck on CRAs far more than he would like, I'm interested in AC's recent announcement that not only is it adding more CRAs to the fleet (first announced last fall), it will also be re-designating the planes as CRJ-900s and re-configuring the cabin (see here).

I thought it would be useful to have a thread to discuss this as well as update progress as the changes are made to the existing fleet.

We haven't seen anything from AC on what the new layout - 12J, 20 Y+, 44Y - will look like. It seems to be the same as DL's CR9s (DL's seatmap here, SeatGuru's here).

Does anyone have any info on what AC's new layout will look like? If matching DL's, it will eliminate the current 1A being next to the front lav, which is definitely a good thing. Also, more closet space, potentially? Given the woeful lack of overhead bin capacity on that plane, and AC's refusal to do a proper gate check, that would be very welcome.

Any info on timing on the re-config? Will this be rolled out in pretty short order or will we go through a lengthy conversion process with uncertainty as to what layout you'll ultimately end up flying?

It's interesting to me to see more J seats being added when AC's recent trend has been to rip them out. It also means that the 76-seat CR9s will have only 2 fewer J seats than the 183-seat 321s.

Suspect there's an alterior motive here to eventually push another few rows as soon as they can do the paperwork with the union. 76 seats in a "CRJ-900" is on the low side.

I'd imagine the reconfiguration will be along those lines; minimizing the time it would take to pull a row of J to reconfigure to 2 extra rows of Y for an 81 seat (9J/72Y) configuration and even a 6J/77Y config unless the economy miraculously picks up.

Hence, no closet expansion. Slaveship conditions in the back. Gotta have continuity of product after all! Surprised AC is doing seat-back IFE though. Isn't that going the way of the dodo (gogo) bird?

Why would they reconfigure the cabin once now, then do it again in short order?

As for 76 seats being "low", how do you see that? It's the same as DL's layout. AA has three layouts, two of which have 76 seats (12J/64Y like AC and DL, 9J/67Y and 9J/70Y). The 76-seat layout, if it mimics DL's, would leave 31" seat pitch in Y and 34" in preferred seats, which is in line with the E75/90 fleet and in the ballpark with the 320 family.

Yes, European operators with their fake J products cram more seats in, but I don't think they're a particularly relevant comparison given that key difference.

As for reducing J, why would they add two more seats only to take them right back out again? Makes no sense to me.

I don't have any info beyond what's been published and posted in the earlier thread, but a few comments based on some comments from the earlier threads:
- The article mentions that the new CRA's will join the fleet in "early 2017", and that the reconfig of the existing ones would be completed by "end of 2017". My guess is that they'll want to minimize the amount of time when they have different configurations flying, so I don't think they'd start modifying the existing planes earlier than the timeline for getting the new ones (being early 2017). So it sounds like we'll see the changes throughout 2017 based on the published dates.
- A reliable source had posted in the earlier thread saying (see post #5 from here) that there would be additional closet space added. Given that it'll go to 12 seats (4 rows of 3) and they're adding closet space, it sounds like a pretty safe bet that the setup will be similar to DL's with 4 rows aligned across, and the solo seat by the lav will be going away.

Now if only they could get those planes off 4+ hour routes like YYC-IAH and keep them on shorter routes that they're better suited for, all would be good!

The 76 seat configuration wasn't a technical or space limitation of the CRJ-900 (re-branded as a CRJ-705), but rather, was a limitation of the CBA they had signed with the ACPA at the time.

Once that clause is gone, the planes get reconfigured. And conditions are very favourable for a renegotiation of that clause. Hence my conjecture that the major reconfiguration would be done in such a way that a subsequent reconfiguration would merely be a quick hangar visit rather than a major reconfiguration and re-wiring event.

But both the ACPA and the Jazz CPA have both been redone within the last year. There is no suggestion that I'm aware of for either contract to be revisited at this point.

Why would they go through the trouble of re-branding the 705's as 900's if not for eventually putting in more seats?

We FT'ers know that the CRA is one of the last bastions of sane seating pitch throughout the entire AC domestic fleet. It only makes sense that its AC management's eventual goal to improve the economics of the fleet. This is pretty low hanging fruit, IMHO.

All of AC's recent changes have been toward monetizing their fleet, not just increasing density. If it was only density that mattered, E+, PE and the 77HD J replacements never would have happened.

This fleet change is occurring because their metrics show they can reliably sell 20 E+ and 12 J seats per flight. Tighter Y will be the by-product, and increased RASM will be the result.

It appears that the current CRAs are getting a bit of a cabin refresh as the seats were reupholstered with dark blue leather- similar to the Q400- on a flight a couple of weeks ago. Much softer the previous dreary grey leather and makes the cabin feel brighter.

The 12 J seats seems like a lot to me. I can't imagine YXE-YVR, YWG-YYC, YVR-YYC, and those kinds of CRA routes are selling much J.

Keeping the IFE makes me think they're looking at keeping these planes on the longer routes (ie. YYC-IAH). On these routes, the J product isn't all that competitive...I mean, a 4 hour flight and no hot meal?

If they remove the current 1A, they could shift down the closet and increase galley space, possibly adding an oven.

All of which is going to be done, save the increased galley space.

The 705s are certified to 75 seats, which is how they are currently configured. Now that they are going to 76 seats they have to recertify them as 900s.

Again, they aren't 76 seats yet. The planes are being reconfigured to 76 seats, and as already mentioned the clause in the CBA is already gone with the ratification of the ACPA agreement months ago.

They get a fair amount of TB work, so I think this may be more J seats for connecting passengers. AC has stated that increase US origin passengers (especially in J) is a major priority, and this should assist in offering a better product for those people.

I wonder if ovens might be part of the refresh as they did with the 190's???