BiggAW

Moderator note: This thread was started in the AA forum, but has now been moved to TravelBuzz for continued discussion. Thanks! /Moderator


What the heck AA? I was looking at flights today for a possible work trip, and our crappy system, for some reason, seems to like AA over everything else unless you play some tricks with it, even though our area is dominated by WN. I was looking at some short-haul stuff, and they were either mostly or all farmed out to regionals, and this was a route to real airports with mainline service, not some <redacted by moderator> regional airport (in this case, PVD-SDF). What the heck AA? I know they fly longer routes and thus have to have mainline metal going somewhere, like BDL-DFW, but their service of our area is even worse than DL. I've ranted about DL's lack of caring about our market in the past, but AA seems even worse.

We're not a hub for anyone, so either we're flying with whomever's hub we're going to, whomever is cheaper, or whomever will actually bother to give us decent service. It's like AA cares even less about our market than DL and just wants to roll over and give it all to WN. Why don't they actually compete more and send us some more 737's? Or just not bother?

KDCAflyer

It's all about demand. If demand increases, you're more likely to see mainline jets. Right now the level of demand only warrants regional jets. What kinds are you seeing? If it's mainly E170/75s, I'd argue that those are better than 737s anyway.

FlyerBeek

Agree, yesterday's RJ aircraft (E-135/145s, CRJ-200s, DHC-8s) are nothing like today's E-170/175s. I too would prefer an E70/75/90 in F over an AA 737/MD80 any day.

-FlyerBeek

BiggAW

A lot of CR9s. And no, an E175 is a toy airplane, a 737 is a legendary, and very real airplane. PVD seems to be a mix of Regionals and mainline, the problem portion is getting from anywhere to SDF. They don't seem to fly mainline metal there from anywhere in the east. It's not for a lack of demand, they have 8 nonstops from CLT alone on CR9's. Pathetic. They could just as easily fly 4 738's and have about the same daily capacity. On top of that, some of them are trying to route me through DCA, which makes no sense.

It must be the second half of the flight that's screwing me up, as PVD has 4 real airplanes a day to CLT, and then one random CR9 that somehow ended up in there.

I searched CLT and ORD, and I can't find any real AA metal actually *going* to SDF. Even though it wouldn't help me, just .... the heck of it, I tried DFW too, and there is again, ZERO AA metal flying to SDF. It's not a hub for any people airlines, which makes it that much weirder. DL flies mainline metal there from ATL, but not DTW. WN flies there from MDW and BWI.

FlyerBeek

Just genuinely curious, is that comparison based on personal comfort/experience or just some preconceived notion of what a "real airplane" should be?

-FlyerBeek

BiggAW

A lot of these are CR9's. That being said, E-series is still regional, an MD-80 is a mainline, and at least for the MD-88's that I've flown on, one of the most fun planes to fly on, and fun to watch and hear in operation. The 737 is boring, but I associate them with a better experience than anything else, but it's probably more due to the airlines that fly them like AS and WN than the airframes themselves.

BiggAW

Real airplanes should be mainline, and have over 100 seats. I'd say 143 like the 737-700, but the 717 is an oddity and a mainline airframe, and it only has 117 when configured all economy. I wish they would get rid of all these stupid regional jets, or at least all have an option on their websites to filter out regional flights so I don't have to look through pages of junk when trying to find a flight.

It's so bad on some of these airlines, that I fly DL occasionally, but usually I just go to flysouthwest.com, as I know what their whole fleet is, and I know I'm getting a real airplane every time.

BiggAW

The E190 is the one that confuses everything. B6 thinks it's a real airplane, AA does not. So what is it?

KDCAflyer

You obviously have little to no understanding of how the airlines work. First of all, the E-jets are not toy airplanes. The E190s are considered mainline aircraft (and are crewed as such), and the 170/75s are basically shorter versions. Certainly smaller than the legendary sardine can that is the 737, but much more comfortable, to the point that most passengers prefer the former over the latter in Y.

The point of regional jets is to provide service to markets that don't justify mainline, or to allow for higher frequencies. Sure, AA could do XXX-CLT with four A320s a day, but it is much more beneficial to passengers and the airline to offer a higher quantity of flights. More connection options, more redundancy, and shorter layovers.

It's the nature of the business. AA knows how many seats they want to offer from those two cities, and the best way to hit that number is through the use of RJs. This isn't the 70s; widebody aircraft are not wastefully flying between medium-sized US cities anymore.

WN's business model is different. Sure they might offer 737s on all flights, but good luck using them to fly to small regional airports. Also be willing to accept long layovers, and direct flights that can have two or more stops.

I will say that AA and UA both seem to be more reliant on RJs than DL. One of the primary reasons I prefer Delta.

FlyerBeek

I suppose I still don't fully understand/appreciate your definition of "real airplane." AA certainly considers the E190 as a "real airplane" in terms of treating it as a mainline aircraft with mainline AA crews (granted a holdover from US and going away within the next year). I also find the E90s more comfortable in F and with better upgrade odds than the mainline 737s/MD80s.

-FlyerBeek

KDCAflyer

To me, a "real airplane" is anything that can maintain sustained powered flight, has wings, and can fly above 1000 feet. But that's just me.

Bttc

I'll trade you some CRJ-200s for some CR9s. Please?

KDCAflyer

As a DC flyer, amen to that. When it comes to the 50-seaters, I'll take a one-stop on DL over a nonstop on AA almost every time.

FlyerBeek

Agreed. I'll caveat all of my above-mentioned RJ superlatives with the fact that I avoid the CRJ-200 like the plague. There's just not a single comfortable seat on that aircraft.

-FlyerBeek

guv1976

AA's mainline aircraft used to include the BAC 1-11-400 (89 seats), and the 737-200 (102 seats). Over the years, "mainline" aircraft have been stretched to increase seating capacity to levels too high to support service in some markets. Regional aircraft have also gotten larger, and some now have the seating capacity that "mainline" aircraft used to have.

If you want to fly a 100+ seat plane into SDF, your options are AA (DFW), DL (ATL), or Allegiant or Southwest (multiple cities).