Large Regional Jets to get FC!

[iheartairbus]

Our internal InFlight Weekly newsletter mentioned that "Adding First Class to Large Regional Jets" is something there planning for 2011. This was in the first issue they published earlier today and then they quickly re-edited the newsletter and took it out realizing that they had not officially announced it publicly or internally. I assume this is something they'll be announcing very soon. I'm also assuming by "Large Regional Jets" they mean the E170/E175 & CR9.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I believe one of the execs mentioned it in the earnings conference call.

Jim

 

[Singleflyer]

How many years ago did Dave Segal promise the E-170 would have FC?

 

[aptboeses]

I have a strong feeling this has a lot to do with the proposed slot swap with DL. During the first attempt US stated they would fly dual class jets on a lot of the new routes. Everyone seemed to have missed the fact that they never said dual class MAINLINE jets. (The devil is in the details)

I wonder if this would finally light a fire under AFA and membership to understand that EVERY jet you have or can get is important. Not just the few shiny new widebodies.

 

[AstroLounge]

Adding FC to the larger Regional Jets (E170,175,176) and maybe the CRJ900 may have something to do with Republic and all the contract flying they do and trying to simplify their fleet along with working with the Legacy Carriers to offer a more consistent product. The E190 has always had a FC Cabin (albeit, too large for the size of a/c) and it only makes sense that the E series had it too. The Embraer is a very comfortable aircraft and can be flown longer segments but WITH these longer routes need a cabin configuration where they are not only Comfortable for the Passenger but User Friendly for the F/A. The CURRENT setup on the US E190 clearly shows that WHOMEVER designed the galley/cabin configurations didn't have a CLUE what needed to be done. The nonexistent Frwd Galley does NOT provide the space/tools for the F/A to do an adequate job in providing an acceptable level of inflight service. Having 11 seats on an airplane that seats 99 was crazy to begin with when there were larger B757's that held 190 pax and a FC cabin of 8 seats. It is STUPID Decisions LIKE THESE that people stop, think and reason "What were they thinking?".........answer "They WEREN'T".

 

[aptboeses]

Adding FC to the larger Regional Jets (E170,175,176) and maybe the CRJ900 may have something to do with Republic and all the contract flying they do and trying to simplify their fleet along with working with the Legacy Carriers to offer a more consistent product. The E190 has always had a FC Cabin (albeit, too large for the size of a/c) and it only makes sense that the E series had it too. The Embraer is a very comfortable aircraft and can be flown longer segments but WITH these longer routes need a cabin configuration where they are not only Comfortable for the Passenger but User Friendly for the F/A. The CURRENT setup on the US E190 clearly shows that WHOMEVER designed the galley/cabin configurations didn't have a CLUE what needed to be done. The nonexistent Frwd Galley does NOT provide the space/tools for the F/A to do an adequate job in providing an acceptable level of inflight service. Having 11 seats on an airplane that seats 99 was crazy to begin with when there were larger B757's that held 190 pax and a FC cabin of 8 seats. It is STUPID Decisions LIKE THESE that people stop, think and reason "What were they thinking?".........answer "They WEREN'T".

As far as I know cabin configurations are generally dictated by the company purchasing the capacity. I highly doubt US is allowing Republic to add F seats so they could streamline their product offering for our competition.

I certainly agree that the E190 is not properly configured for what US sometimes uses it for. If you are only offering beverages on a short flight then it's ok but if you want to offer meals in F then there is a huge problem due to a lack of galley space. My biggest complaint is the lack of a proper closet. That alone would solve most of the issues of coats and crew bag stowage.

I really wish people wouldn't refer to the E170/190 series as large regional jets. They are not. Were the F28, F100, DC9 and BAC 1-11 flown as "regional jets" or mainline here at US? US on the East coast was built with these smaller mainline jets and we shouldn't be so quick to throw flying away just because we're not doing in on an A330.

 

[FutureUScapt]

Our internal InFlight Weekly newsletter mentioned that "Adding First Class to Large Regional Jets" is something there planning for 2011. This was in the first issue they published earlier today and then they quickly re-edited the newsletter and took it out realizing that they had not officially announced it publicly or internally. I assume this is something they'll be announcing very soon. I'm also assuming by "Large Regional Jets" they mean the E170/E175 & CR9.

Large regional jets would mean anything besides the CRJ-200 & ERJ-145. 🙂

 

[SS255]

I certainly agree that the E190 is not properly configured for what US sometimes uses it for. If you are only offering beverages on a short flight then it's ok but if you want to offer meals in F then there is a huge problem due to a lack of galley space. My biggest complaint is the lack of a proper closet. That alone would solve most of the issues of coats and crew bag stowage.

I flew in F on a UA CR-700 a couple of months ago. The F pax were offered snack boxes. I'm not very educated in UA's premium cabin service, so I presume the snack boxes are route-specific and not aircraft-specific, but it certainly was a good alternative given the lack of galley space. (F pax still had to walk to the very back to use the lav.)

Good for US if they follow through with this. I would far prefer to have an F cabin without full F meal service than no F cabin at all. Besides, US should not be flying these birds on routes which currently qualify for meal service. 😉

Now if US were to shorten the time block for meal service in F, I could see where the lack of galley space would become a problem. 🙂

 

[Itestwell]

I flew in F on a UA CR-700 a couple of months ago. The F pax were offered snack boxes. I'm not very educated in UA's premium cabin service, so I presume the snack boxes are route-specific and not aircraft-specific, but it certainly was a good alternative given the lack of galley space. (F pax still had to walk to the very back to use the lav.)

Good for US if they follow through with this. I would far prefer to have an F cabin without full F meal service than no F cabin at all. Besides, US should not be flying these birds on routes which currently qualify for meal service. 😉

Now if US were to shorten the time block for meal service in F, I could see where the lack of galley space would become a problem. 🙂

My guess? Snack basket and plastic glassware. An enhancement, nonetheless.

 

[LGA777]

Multiple comments to add. First I think this is being done (assuming it does happen) to try and become more competitive with DL Conx, AA Eagle, UA Express that all either have or have recently added F/C to anything CRJ-700 and larger. Many of the markets US Express fly's 50 seat RJ's out of LGA are now competing with 2 class AA Eagle CRJ-700's and DL Connection 2 class CRJ-700/900 and E-175's.

Second now re the E-190's on their initial routes yes F11 was to high but now a large portion of the smaller fleet does BOS-LGA (Shuttle) and BOS-PHL, both biz markets where the demand for F is high even on such a short flight. On LGA-BOS Shuttle flying it is not unusual to for the aircraft to be only 1/3 to 2/3 full yet First is full, often with some in coach who preferred to upgrade but could not. Also even more importantly it was important to keep the aircraft below 100 seats to keep it only requiring 2 flight attendants, which is probably the main reason they went with an 11F/88Y or 99 total.

And thirdly the window alignment is currently pretty bad for many seats on US's CRJ-900's and E-170/75's. Probably dreaming but hopefully adding a F/C cabin and possibly changing slightly some of the coach seats arrangement might maybe help. When the E-170's where first delivered to Mid-Atlantic in their Y72 config the seat/window alignment wasn't bad but when they changed to the Y76 config it changed that in much of the cabin. A friend who is often on DL E-175's claim the Shuttle America birds have good alignment while the Compass ones even with the same F and Y number of seats are bad in every row, odd.

End of rant

LGA777

 

[gizmo_sc]

COMPASS is owned and operated by TRANS STATES. Could that be the reason the seats and the windows don't line up properly. A friend of mine used to fly for TSA and she said after 6 months on the property she was so disgusted with TSA Management she just QUIT. Really can't blame her , know how TSA used to be when they were feeders for TWA.