I've noticed in the three airline forums I frequent most, NW/CO/DL, one of the bigger gripes is the slow creep in regional jet service. I actually managed to never fly one until about two years ago, but now seem to end up on them a few times a year. I still try to avoid them at all costs, but has any one managed to avoid them 100% on domestic mainline flying (WN & Jetblue of course don't count! ).

fly out of hubs

or just don't go to cities served by CRJs

Are you talking CRJs specifically or RJs in general?

I'd actually rather fly on an RJ to certain destinations. You don't have to wait for people to store their carry ons, the one seat side on ERJs is nice and you don't have to wait half an hour to get off the plane when you arrive. The lack of space doesn't bother me too much either.

Have to agree with you. RJ flights always seem to be more smooth for me too. I think the gripes mentioned are the slow creep of RJs on long flights in which case a 3-4 hr flight on an RJ can be tough.

Don't mind RJs. They're nice and comfy, no real downside.

i dont mind'em either frankly...

RJs aren't that popular with European airlines, so I've only flown 'em 3-4 times.
I didn't like the CRJ...Too cramped...
But the Avro was satisfactory
And the ERJ probably was the smoothest and most comfortable Y experience I've ever enjoyed.

Agreed. The Embraers are very nice little planes.

I've never flown on one and, hopefully, I never will. I go to great lengths to avoid commuter planes -- I'll fly different carriers, even to the point of forgoing needed points for status, or I'll rent a car and drive.

Why???

(How can you judge something you've never tried?)

Despite having been a frequent flyer for about 20 years, I'm still not completely comfortable with flying. I particularly do not like turbulence (beyond light chop) and rapid changes of altitude. Consequently, I avoid smaller aircraft. I had a particularly unpleasant experience on a commuter (I don't remember the aircraft type) when flying in 80s between Martinique and Guadaloupe. We flew through (not over or around) a thunderstorm. That flight was more than sufficient to keep me away from smaller aircraft.

Most frequent fliers dispise the CRJ and ERJ during flights longer then 1 hour. Most love the Avros. Avros on NW have first clas and a wider body giving the illusion of being in a regular airliner (737,A319). I've heard good things though about the ER170's and 190's too because of FC in them as well as a feeling of being in a bigger plane.

[HIC]For a 1-2 hour flight, the Embarer is one of my favourite aircraft. You see, it has four advantages:

i) I can have both a Window and an Isle seat at the same time.

ii) They cruise at the same altitude as a wide bodied transcon jet. This makes for a smoother flight than the Avros or Fokkers I often find myself travelling on.

iii) In my experience, the leg room on Embarers has always been much better than the larger 737s you might expect to see on European/US domestic routes.

iv) Two words: "Cabin Pressure"! This Internaut is suffering from a cold at the moment and today's flights on an F100 and F70 were murder for my hearing an sinuses (I never have this problem on my favourite Brazillian regional jet).

Regards
I

[/HIC]

I managed to avoid them for the first 3 months of this year. Unfortunately, a last minute change to a return Friday forced me onto a couple DL RJ's. The biggest problem I have is the uncomfortable narrow seating. I felt bad for the guys in front of me. I could see the armpit of the guy in front of me in the crack between the seats, meaning his whole shoulder was encroaching on his neighbor (the other one was in the aisle taking regular hits from boarding pax, FA's and the drink cart).

I was disgusted to see an RJ flight to Colo Spgs on the board in CVG as I waited for my next. How long is that?

I've only ever had two RJ flights, one on a Yak-40 and one on an Avro. Until recently, US had very few RJs, and these days I mostly fly WN.