Speculation: CLT / Charlotte to Aspen / ASE possible with regional service?
 

Would it be possible for AA to fly a CRJ700 into ASE from Charlotte? The route would be 1450 miles. Currently (in season), AA flies into ASE from DFW, ORD, and LAX. DL flies into ASE out of ATL.

The max range for a CR700 is about 1600 miles. With CLT-ASE being 1450 miles, it doesn't leave much buffer to divert back to DEN (125 miles) in cases of bad weather, etc.

Are there any longer CRJ700 flights in the system?

Does AA (and its express partners) have the base, ER, or LR model?. As said above, the base model probably doesn't have the legs to do the flight, but the ER model could probably handle it. Not sure how the altitude might impact operations though.

That being said, just because CRJ 700 could make the route doesn't mean it would be an economical route. I could see Saturday only service maybe working.

United express used to run CRJ700's between MSP and LAX, which is 1,535...so it is possible, but you don't have to worry about Altitude and Weight Restrictions at those airports like you do ASE. I'd say its doubtful AA would have any 1400+ mile CRJ700 flight

Why do you think it wouldn't be economical? Other hubs operate multiple flights a day into ASE. And CLT is AA's second biggest hub.

If AA thought that it would be more profitable to deploy a CR7 on the CLT-ASE route rather than on some other route, don't you think that AA would have done so already?

What other AA hubs do is irrelevant: different hubs have different markets.

I didn't suggest "more" profitable - just perhaps equally profitable. I think there are some special rules regarding pilots allowed to fly into ASE. Perhaps extra training?

Uh huh. Which of those cities served by AA at CLT - and not served by AA distance-efficiently from LAX, DFW, or ORD - has flyers wanting to pay good money to fly to Aspen?

Asking purely because I do not know, but how many people in the Southeast US are big skiers and are interested in making the trip out to ASE that cannot otherwise be handled through the other hubs?

I think historically, downhill skiing was a sport more common to the North, Midwest and Inter-mountain West - along with most other wintertime sports. But with population migration patterns today, there are less regional differences. AA operates a MIA to Vail flight seasonally right now.

Back in the day, US flew CLT-EGE, with a 757 IIRC, but I would think they'd prefer to funnel traffic through the Midwest hubs in today's merged AA network rather than put a large RJ on a long route like ASE out of CLT.

AFAIK, ASE has tricky conditions and airlines require pilots to have additional experience and training to fly there. This has been true since Aspen / Pitkin County airport installed MLS in the 1970s. Such might not be of interest to AA, given the extra risk ASE provides.

Link to Denver Post article "Winds complicate landing at Aspen airport, flight experts say"

Yes, Aspen is a technical approach that requires familiarity training. There's some decent cockpit videos of the approach on YouTube, if you're interested.

I would rather split the trip up in a connecting hub....that's a long time in a CR7 with one toilet in the way back :eek: