JC5280

OMG! They give you a snackbox with a trail mix bag that is empty?



(Too hungry to take the picture before you broke into the bags? )

Aspen

I noticed a new aeroplane flying over Aspen Mountain on Thursday Jan 26
This morning there was an announcement that Skywest CRJ-700s would be replacing the Air Wisconsin BAe146 on the DEN-Aspen route (125 miles) and the seasonal Aspen- LAX route (750 miles)

The full stories can be found on the links below

From The Aspen Daily News
http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_12598

From the Aspen Times
http://at.us.publicus.com/article/20...NEWS/101270034

DENPremEx

^ ^ ^ I noticed this in the Denver Post Business section the other day. Great news for anyone who goes to ASE. The Bae 146's weren't bad but a CRJ 700 with ExPlus is so much better! 1A in these planes is preferable to a 737 or an A319/320, IMHO.

cur

I don't know how they were able to fit all of those skis into BAEs, let alone the CRJs.

Aspen

Two points:
1. Aspen travellers often seem to bring 200 pounds of luggage.
2. The the planes are often weight restricted, especially in summer.
This sometimes results in delayed luggage. The luggage comes on a later flight or even sometimes travels by truck and then is delivered to the passengers' accomodation overnight.

FightingIlliniUAL

There is an interesting thread over at airliners.net which deals with the complexities of the CR7 flying in and out of ASE/EGE including but not limited to engine performance (can it make it), Air Wisconsins "preferred" flight paths (supposedly, they got the FAA certifications and can other carriers use them), is the CR7 capable of the CAT II or CAT III approaches, baggage storage, etc.

Can you imagine the preflight weight & balance shuffling around that will take place on these flights?

IMO, the BAE-146 was DESIGNED for this route. Well, it was really designed for short-field takeoffs from some of the London airports, hence the redundancy of engines.

Airliners.net thread

worldtrav

I'm sure UA is expecting some PAID F customers in/out of this airport that up to now has not been offered.

Aspen

I expect you are correct in this assessment, especially since a couple of companies are advertising 'executive jet' services in and out of Aspen including the ability to buy a single seat on a private jet to certain destinations.

turisto

For any of you thinking of ever taking this flight into aspen, I highly suggest you don't!!! I use to fly the Bae-146 into apsen. Now I fly an RJ for Air wisconsin. If somebody asked me to take a CRJ700 into aspen, I would assume either they missed theropy last week, or they worked for United airlines.

I don't want to see it, but it is going to happen. There will be an accident going in there soon with this airplane, the only question is when. I still can't believe the FAA certified this one. Every now and then the FAA lets something crazy slide by, and I think this might be one of those things. The problem is it approaches too fast and the single engine climb rate is not enough to get it out of a balked (low missed) landing. Either it will have to be beautiful weather (which isn't often in aspen) or like 3 people on the plane so they can safely get it slow enough to get in there.

I wouldn't let my family get on it that is for sure!! If you have to travel to aspen, don't take united unless you are feeling luckly. I am afraid to see what comes of this.....

dliesse

Has anyone experienced, or at least witnessed, anyone having to be reseated on a CR7 for weight & balance reasons? This has been a regular occurrence on any CRJ flights I've had (any airline), but maybe the CR7 was designed a bit better in this regard. I've only had two flights on CR7, but was midships and not in a position to notice.

SB Neal

I'm frequently moved to the back on CRJ's, which is getting to be a pain. How common is this?

UA T7

I fly on the CRJ only a handful of times a year, and usually in rows 1-4. I've yet to be reseated due to weight management. If there is reseating going on behind me, odds are I would be oblivious to it anyway.

Mike Jacoubowsky

I've flown a number of CRJs, typically between ORD & MSN, and the times you're not moved around are notable because they're so few and far-between. For me it's not that big a deal, because the flight's pretty short (30 minutes or so).

I have witnessed people being really uptight about being moved, and don't quite get it. They won't let the plane fly until the weight is balanced, and the FA is pretty clear about which passengers need to move (sometimes asking for "volunteers" and sometimes just saying "We need four people from the first two rows to move to one of the seats at the back"). But people will just sit tight, as if they think the FA is bluffing. One flight was literally held up for a few minutes until somebody finally relented. Weird.

Like I said, it's just a 30 minute flight, and it's only a seat. It's not as if they're strapping you under the wing, nor are you guaranteed the seat you were originally assigned. Maybe they'll eventually start selling seats right on the plane, like they do with BOB (food). Auctions for exit rows.

cur

Fly the RJs at least twice a month, and nadda on the movement due to load+balance.

Mike Jacoubowsky

So am I just lucky or what? Given that you fly fairly often, you probably get a combination of passenger loads.... and still haven't seen people get moved around. So maybe it's me? Gee, I was pretty happy when I got down to 173 (from 182), but guess there's more to go!

My experience is 6-8 flights per year, and they're all, as I mentioned, between MSN and ORD. I used to fly SFO-DEN-MSN but the RJ on the DEN-MSN leg was a bit long for comfort on that plane, so I switched to SFO-ORD-MSN. I don't recall being moved on one of the DEN-MSN legs, but there weren't too many of them.

I asked a pilot friend I ride (bicycle) with about all the moving around, but he's never flown an RJ and said it generally isn't much of an issue with an MD80 (what he normally flies, for AA). He's generally more concerned with how the cargo's loaded. I was also surprised to learn that they don't have ways of measuring the actual weight distribution on the plane; it's all calculated based upon assumptions. I had figured maybe they had sensors in the landing gear.