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There are a couple of interesting developments about Delta Air Lines’ plans with their Delta Connection partners’ regional plans.
CRJ-200: Good News, Bad News
Let’s address the Aircraft We Love to Hate: the CRJ-200. The Devil’s Chariot. “That small plane that’s so uncomfortable – more than the others!”
If you know, you know.
TPG’s Zach Griff wrote yesterday that “SkyWest Airlines will stop flying the CRJ-200 for Delta between December 2023 and mid-March 2024.” As the CRJ-200s fly off into the sunset, the only two routes eventually scheduled to operate with those planes will be between Salt Lake City (SLC) and Moab, Utah (CNB); SLC to/from West Yellowstone, Montana (WYS). Then CRJ-200s will be out of the Delta system (until they aren’t?).
So, some markets may have to deal with them for a few more months.
Essential Air Service: Two-Cabin Planes — But Only Main Cabin Service?
A longtime reader tipped us off that Delta instructed SkyWest to operate two-class planes on its several Essential Air Service (EAS) routes.
Those trips will be handled by CRJ-700s or -900s instead of the -200s.
Now, traveling in a CRJ-700 feels much better than a CRJ-200. Even if the space between seats isn’t the same, it’s not quite as claustrophobic.
And there’s always First Class. Right?
Here’s the peculiar thing: the reader (we’ll call him “Bob”) pointed out that Delta doesn’t seem to be selling First Class seats for those flights.
But why isn’t Delta selling anything above Main Cabin?
Bob said, “My guess is SkyWest pushed back against Delta’s mandate because SkyWest never caters these planes and if they did first-class they would have to do pre-departure, coffee, tea, water, alcohol and the whole range of soft drinks plus a snack basket for first-class.”
Sure, that would mean catering food and beverage for flights that aren’t very long. Who cares? (That said, don’t underestimate my fellow native Midwesterners.)
“Delta is trying to get passengers to buy up into the premium classes of service,” Bob said. “Why would you not offer first-class on a plane with first-class so that someone buying a first-class ticket has that class of service for their whole journey?”
Part of me wondered if it were a weight-and-balance issue, considering that some of these smaller airports don’t have especially long runways.
That said, I’m familiar with Bob Hope Airport (BUR), which has similar runway lengths to many smaller airports. BUR handles multiple cargo Airbus 300 widebody operations everyday. (And pop music star Drake’s plane — a 767-200 — uses BUR every so often. It also makes a lot of noise when it passes over your house at 11:00 PM. I speak from experience.)
Pilots, ground crew, flight attendants, etc.: what light can you shed on this?
Final Approach
We’re finally near the end of the CRJ-200 era with Delta. Some Essential Air Service routes soon will have slightly larger planes operating their routes — but without the bells and whistles people expect.
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Good news!
At the end did you mean “but without the bells and whistles people expect.” without “not”?
Yep, thanks!
I will not miss this plane one inch, we coincidentally, was the space for passengers seats and carry on luggage combined. “Air Incubus” as we called it at work.
SkyWest used to fly Metroliners. No bathroom of flight attendant. You want to talk uncomfortable. The CRJ 200 is luxury by comparison. My how our tolerance has changed.
And the Metroliner was a big improvement over the unpressurized B99 and EMB-110.
Keep in mind that the CRJ was only intented to be bigger and better than the 37-seat DHC-8-200 and the 50-seat -300. It was only after 9/11 when airlines shrank considerably that the CRJ was put into service on what had been mainline routes.
What’s interesting is that even EKO has its CR9 service set up. Skywest is doing funky things with CNY. There’s a lot of pressure for them to operate the subsidized service to SLC for local flyers, but overall, Skywest can do better going to DEN to feed UA’s larger system.
WYS is a mystery. I beleive it and CDC are the only places in Skywest’s SLC system that are receiving Essential Airline Service subsidies. CDC is already showing CR9 service and Skywest is unlikely to abandon service there for political reasons like CNY as well.
DL seems to have already replaced CRJ’s, or will shortly, their EAS flights out of DTW to the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin.
That leaves the big question of Skywest Charter and United Express flying CRJ’s.
Seeing that DL does say on their site that in First ‘every flight’ features coffee, soft drinks, booze and premium snacks. Main Cabin has a 250 mile minimum stage length for basic snacks. So that does create a service expectation problem if they sell F on very short essential air routes.
If DL is smart, they’ll sell the whole plane as Y, but make the F cabin seats selectable only for elite medallions (probably have to add a disclaimer that it’s still ‘economy service’, and even then there’s the risk some elites complain!)