MBS MillionMiler

Isn't it a good sign that none of the Air Wisconsin CRJs have headed in for paint? I know their contract is favorably written towards UA and their ability to scale down ZW flying basically on a whim. Will they be the first to go if/when this United Next plan comes into being?

Forgive me if mentioned above or in previous years' fleet update threads...If there is a plan to repaint ZW's fleet, my apologies!

nyr2299

Quick question: after spending hours at the chiropractor due CRJ200's out of ORD, I have to ask... how much longer before they are retired? Anyone know?

atword

I find it interesting that the Skywest planes are getting repainted but the Air Wisconsin planes are not. May simply be due to the newer paint on the Air Wisconsin birds.

MBS MillionMiler

Not nearly soon enough. And especially bad for ORD flyers, is that they’ve all but removed the -550s from ORD. My small airport had -550s replace CRJ-200 service for nearly 2 years (up until this January), but they’re not even on ORD’s schedule much anymore. I think they even shifted the GoJet crew base to EWR and IAD, and the -200 are back at ORD with a sore-festering vengeance. Even on ‘bigger’ routes, I see -200s to GRR, DSM, even CLE, IND and CVG this summer and little, if any -550 service from ORD. Absolute garbage.

They got us all excited with “United Next” last year talking about the retirement of “50 seaters”, but all they’ve done so far is retire some of the vastly superior ERJ145s, with very little movement on the -200s.

Cris

Unless something changed and I haven't seen the update, United informed Air Wisconsin last year they do not intend to extend their contract beyond 2023.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/449...-annual-letter

MBS MillionMiler

How in the living heck did I miss this? As someone who has documented over 700 segments on the CRJ-200 (I've since quit counting)...What wonderful news from an aircraft perspective! ...Unless, A) They renew last minute or B) Those CRJs end up in another existing or all new United Express contractor.

I said above 'from an aircraft perspective', because I will give the ZW flight attendants credit, honestly, most are better than mainline, and certainly better than the absolute garbage service that SkyWest provides on similar short routes, CRJ, E175 or CR7. I recently posted in the 1K recognition thread that it took me over 2 years to be acknowledged as a 1K (not a big deal, just a data point)...And that was on a CRJ flight home to MBS where the F/A, on a 45-min-in-the-air flight brought me 2 cocktails and a snack box, my next flight out, didn't quite get that treatment, but got a pre-departure beverage as a 1K (another 1K/GS as well), and an open bar once we took off. Most of those short flights at least get water and a snack choice from ZW. We've had a mix of aircraft and carriers in/out of MBS in the last year including F seats on the GoJet -550 and the SkyWest E175. EVERY SINGLE SkyWest flight, in F, we were never greeted, never offered a beverage--not even water through the aisles. I had a handful of GoJet flights--sitting in F, and was told specifically, "we don't offer beverages, even in F, on this flight". But even before the pandemic when we had all SkyWest CRJ service due to a contract w/UA (SkyWest 'owned' United at MBS as an at-risk airport for at least 7-8 years), it was still horrible service--I even made a game out of it--after they made the announcement that there would be NO service on the flight (not even water through the aisles), I'd see if the flight attendant even left their seat other than the walk-though at the end to check seatbelts and pick up trash. Once even had an F/A sleep from takeoff to touchdown, didn't flinch until we hit the tarmac. --I think I reported that one and even left the plane with a snide comment, "here for our safety, huh?". I'm scared that we'll still end up with crappy CRJs, but even crappier service if/when ZW disappears.

HOWEVER...Comfort, especially when it comes to flying the Devil's Chariot™ (or NOT flying it) is paramount. I'll take shoddy, downright horrible service on any. other. aircraft. over the CRJ...But it does sting a bit to see those people perhaps losing their jobs, especially with the great service they've provided, but overall, any tears of the demise of ZW are indeed crocodile tears.

Cris

They are owned by Air Wisconsin, and given that UA intends to exit the CRJ200s from the fleet by 2025ish, it would have to be one heck of a sale for another UX carrier to think that's worth it financially. Air Wisconsin started a very small freighter CRJ program, and it would be my guess some of those planes are heading towards a conversion or the desert.

TWA Guy

Planes will transfer to American Eagle starting March 2023. Harbor Diversified (owner of Air Wisconsin) 8K indicates UA agreement will be terminated.

https://onemileatatime.com/news/amer...XQoW6leiSQajds

narvik

What's United's plan for all the current destinations Air Wisconsin flies to?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...n_destinations

EWR764

Double-edged sword for United... on one hand, it means 1/3 of the most undesirable model in the UAX fleet are gone, and probably won't be replaced. ZW owns the frames and that means it won't be a situation where the flying is just shifted to another operator. On the other, it means a number of small markets in and around ORD/IAD will probably lose service, on top of the few dozen that have left the system in the last couple of years.

GoJet is taking on more CRJ-550s and there are a number of frames sitting around that SkyWest and Mesa can't staff. Rumor has it United is looking to place 175s with CommutAir, as well.

2P or not 2P

I wonder where replacement lift will come from. Last week some 47 ex-UAX E145s were registered to Delux Public Charter Inc (who trade as JSX).
Leaves by my reckoning 36 United E145s in the desert including 30 XRs. Finding someone to fly them will be a challenge considering both Mesa (E175) and GoJet (CRJ550) also have aircraft in the desert.

narvik

THAT'S what I am afraid of.
I mean it's lovely to have a first class seat for the 100 miles AVP-EWR on a 550.
But not good if they drop AVP-ORD altogether, even if it was on a CRJ200. If GoJet can pick up some of the routes, that would be great. But that's a LOT of flights that will be going away! 🤔

2P or not 2P

Current Air Wisc routes: https://www.airwis.com/travel.html#routs
Of course other UAX operators may also operate on some of these routes.

FriendlySkies

Good riddance! Flying the CR2s is one of the worst experiences at UAX. I am curious, however, to see if the OO CR2s will migrate over to IAD to cover some of the routes ZW is currently operating or if they'll use E145s.

HNLbasedFlyer

I would think drop most of them - considering they will likely be served by American - perhaps keep a few high volume/profitable routes, but I suspect overall good news for UA