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Fortunes sour for regional airlines as majors prosper

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Regional airline profits are shrinking, costs are rising, and they're having trouble finding enough pilots to work for the salaries they pay. (www.usatoday.com) More...

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av8r4ual
Ron Young 2
The majors are simply regaining flying outsourced a decade ago. Do you want to fly an RJ or 777? Don't be so short sighted. If a flight is over an hour long, it should be at a minimum a 737. The days where an RJ flies 3 hour flights should be over.
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 1
the seating is actually more comfortable on an RJ vs a newer 737
rad2
Only if you are 5'2" and weigh 90 lbs. The RJ type should not be on major routes. Hub city to hub city in an RJ - ya right!!!
indy2001
indy2001 2
What's wrong with the ERJ135/145 aircraft?
1. Tiny seats. I'm 6'4" tall and my wife is 5'11". We can't sit together comfortably, so we reserve single seats behind each other on the left side of the cabin whenever we're forced to fly on them.
2. Lack of cabin storage. Passengers must gate-check cabin bags to be stored in the hold. Nothing larger than a purse can be taken into the cabin, which is ridiculous considering the length of the routes these aircraft are used on. (e.g. 2.5 hours IND-MIA or IND-IAH)
3. Miniscule restroom. Even the pilots get stuck in them (DL6132).
4. No first class section. Passengers in premium seats pay premium bucks.

Even the relatively short flight from IND to ORD can be arduous; we connect through DFW whenever possible because all of those flights are on MD-80s. One of the reasons that Southwest has become so popular is that they use larger aircraft and larger seat pitch.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 2
The majors will have to share the wealth or do without the business the regionals bring them. They are connected. If either one doesn't make profit the other will suffer too. That said, if ticket prices rise to a level customers aren't willing to pay on a certain route then that route will diminish or disappear. It is an ever changing market place much like musical chairs. Someone is always left standing.
btweston
btweston 4
Yeah it is pretty wild for, say, Delta to horde the money while, say, ExpressJet founders. How are people supposed to get to the hub for their cross country Delta flight? Magic carpet?

And we're supposed to be amazed when, after the regionals go under, the Deltas of the world express their own amazement in their drop in passengers.

Greed is not good. Greed is short-sighted and toxic.

[This poster has been suspended.]

RRKen
Low cost carriers do not at all compete in the markets that a SkyWest or Compass do. I doubt you will ever see Spirit or SouthWest land at Sioux Falls, Minot, or Traverse City. Yet such are those towns where RJ's ply their trade. (Yes, I know Delta does land once a day in Sioux Falls with an A320, or places such as Madison, but those are usually one-offs on the schedule card).
MikeWinkler
Mike Winkler 1
When I was little boy I was fascinated by the art of magic, unlike other kids my grandparents bought me my first magic kit.
Steamjet
Steamjet 1
A Shortage of Pilots????

Are they nuts ? The only shortage they have is one of enough stupid pilots willing to work for substandard wages, with a substandard schedule with not a sliver of a work/ life balance.

That's the only shortage they have. Even the GAO study agrees.

Shortage !!!! Shortage of the brain power with these regional Ceo's and bean counters.

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