TWA Fan 1

A lot of this is wrapped around the "scope clause" in the pilots' contract.

PMCO had the strictest scope clause (as did AA), which only allowed RJ's of up to 50 seats to be marketed by CAL.

As a result, CO flew a ton of ERJ-145's. So much so that it contributed to congestion at EWR (which is still does). Out of desperation, fomer CAL CEO started adding truboprop Q300 and Q400 a/c to the line-up, because, as props, they were subject to looser scope clause rules.

United had the looser 76-seat scope clause, which allowed the use of a/c like the CRJ-700 and E-170.

After merging, Jeffy basically pulled a fast one on the PMCO pilots by scheduling the UA RJ's under the UA contract.

Then again, as mentioned above, AA also had a 50-seat scope clause, but this also been amended to allow 76-seat RJ's.

And yes, both AA and DL have long RJ flights, but there is a difference between nearly 4 hours in the ERJ-145 and the same flight in an E-170 or even the CRJ-700/900.

I recently did LGA-DFW-LGA on DL E-170's (operated by Compass) and it was completely fine, absolutely comparable to single-aisle mainline (minus the IFE). But otherwise, these planes have full-size overhead compartments (no need to gate check rollaboards), Economy Comfort, FC, hot meals in F, etc.

jh6000

SFO-DFW 1465 miles 3 hours 33 minutes - awful!

tyroner

ERJ-145 IAH-DTW 2h49. Just terrible. I have no problem taking the 145 the 179 miles from LAN-ORD but to Houston from Detroit, that is just not right.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Been there, done that, an y'know what? I survived. I even had a choice of flying mainline two hours later.

yul36

UAX also flies 145's on that route.


The AC 175's are not being Rouged. They were spun off to Skyservice operating as sky regional. same company thats been flying a fleet of dedicated ( ex Lynx ) Q-400s from YUL to YTZ. The company is non union so low cost for AC.
The 190s like US Air are still mainline.

emcampbe

This is correct. The E175s now being transferred (or maybe its complete) to Sky Regional. So will be AC Express operated by Sky Regional. Pretty much the same as United Express operated by [insert regional carrier here - GoJet, Skywest, etc.]

united4

IAD-COS (does this even operate anymore?) has to be a really big one.

WineCountryUA

1,464 miles, high but others are higher

UA-NYC

Don't disagree - but the scope clause doesn't preclude them from actually trying to provide a competitive service on-board.

TWA Fan 1

Good point, especially now that UA's scope clause is no more restrictive than AA's or DL's.

I will say, however, that the large fleet of ERJ-145's is the legacy of the PMCO scope clause, and even if the flights on these a/c can be very long (nearly 4 hours), these birds simply aren't equipped to provide mainline-style food service.

PV_Premier

hot food no, but the ability to provide a hearty, tasty cold sandwich or salad isn't dependent on ovens. it is, however, dependent on having an F cabin in theory.

JDS747

I completely agree with you on this one! I don't think the CR7 is anywhere close to the E170/5.

The full-size rollerboard isn't the deciding factor for me though. It is the shape of the cabin and the ability for two grown men to sit next to each other without one being smashed into the wall and the other spilling out into the isle.

The CR7's cabin begins to noticeably curve inward at a lot lower point than the E170/5's. This makes E170/5's feel a lot more like a mainline to me.

catocony

IMHO, at this point, if you know you'll be in Y, then the E-170 is the best Conited narrowbody, at least as far as seat size and comfort. That's scary, but with the hard benches on the 737s and CO 757s, the simple oldness of the UA 757s and the Recaro torture thrones coming in on the Airbuses, a lowly E-170 is tops. Unless you can grab an Airbus with the old seats, and then pray that they don't swap equipment between the time you book and the time you fly.

Strangely, I find the F seats on an E-170 to be not that great. They stink on the CR-7s, although they're better than coach on those birds.

goalie

The longest flight I took in an RJ was in a Cr2 DEN-MEM and this was so long ago that this aircraft was brand new (its 3rd flight ever-and it was so new that there were tech reps from the company onboard the flight)

why fly

No Rouge is a new company, if your flight changes from Air Canada to Rouge you can get your money refunded.
NEXT new Rouge 767 will lose the AVOD as will the 319's.
I assume the E175 will also lose the entertainment system. ( again that's another new AC company)??? however someone else might know for sure, what cuts are planned for the 175's
PS the new Premium Rouge seating means the seat in the middle on the 319 will be empty like LH in Europe. 767 will get a domestic business class seat.