“There are plenty of reasons to hate 50-seat regional jets.”
The above sentence comes from a USA TODAY story – published in 2006 – about how United Airlines was trying to reduce its reliance on 50-seat regional jets.
Today, the company’s still at it, according to today’s piece by Crain’s Chicago Business headlined, “United’s move to drop small jets will have a big impact at O’Hare.” And, given business travelers’ dislike for the small jets with their limited headroom and small overhead bins, I wanted to bring the Crain’s story to your attention.
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Last month’s announcement from United Continental Holdings to shed more than 130, 50-seat regional jets from its system is going to have a major impact on flying out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the story says.
At Chicago O’Hare, the 50-seat regional jet accounts for 51% of the daily domestic departures with most run by United, according to Crain’s story, which cites OAG airline schedule data.
In contrast, the 50-seat regional jets make up only 22% of the Atlanta airport’s daily domestic departures.
The longtime trend to move away from 50-seat regional jets involves business travelers’ dislike for them, but also includes economics and a pilot shortage, Crain’s tells us.
“The 50-seat aircraft is still a very important part of our route network,” Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman, told Crain’s. “But we’ve admitted we’re too reliant on them.”
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