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RJs Crowd Skies; Squeeze Fliers

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CaptJax

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Posts
310
Of all the changes that have overtaken the airline industry in recent years, one of the most dramatic has been the rapid transition to regional carriers, as "mainline" airlines outsource more and more flying to their regional "partners." You may be surprised to learn that 53 percent of all commercial airline departures in the United States today are operated by regional airlines.

Behind the Screen
By Bill McGee - USA Today Travel

Confusion persists

The number of passengers carried by U.S. regional airlines nearly doubled between 2000 and 2010, reaching 159 million at the end of the decade. Despite a slight downturn recently, the Federal Aviation Administration predicts passenger enplanements on regionals will rise by 3.5 percent through 2031.

Regional service grew as the airline industry's hub-and-spoke model expanded, with smaller commuter carriers operating on "thin" routes, often to small and rural communities. In fact, regional airlines provide the only air service at 484 airports nationwide. But today, regional aircraft also operate on some of the nation's densest routes and clog some of the most congested airports.

At the U.S. Department of Transportation's Future of Aviation Advisory Committee meetings in 2010, I raised the issue of booking transparency. That's because I hear constantly from readers who are confused over which airline they've booked, and many don't realize when they're buying tickets on the majors' partners and not on the majors. Last year the DOT responded by tightening rules that provide transparency for code-sharing flights, particularly with regional affiliates.

Unfortunately, as regional flights become more ubiquitous, consumer confusion increases. Every day, tens of thousands of passengers book flights branded by major airlines but operated by regional partners. And even seasoned travelers are sometimes surprised by the differences.

Far from seamless

Major airlines insist there are no significant disparities when passengers fly on regional rather than mainline aircraft. But a brief rundown of some of the most pressing issues casts some doubt on such claims:

•Safety. In recent years the U.S. airline industry has posted a strong safety record. But while the industry notes there hasn't been a fatal "major" airline accident since 2001, there have been five fatal crashes of regional carriers operating on behalf of five different majors since then, resulting in 135 deaths:

•2003: Air Midwest doing business as (dba) US Airways Express
•2004: Pinnacle Airlines dba Northwest Airlink
•2004: Corporate Airlines dba AmericanConnection
•2006: Comair dba Delta Connection
•2009: Colgan Air dba Continental Connection

In the wake of the Colgan Air accident near Buffalo, the Airline Safety Act was passed to strengthen pilot hiring and training standards for regionals and to provide one level of safety among mainline carriers and regional partners. Yet a recent Senate hearing underscored that problems remain, with the Inspector General of the DOT testifying that the FAA "has not met time lines for raising pilot training standards, implementing mentoring programs, providing enhanced leadership skills to captains and increasing minimum pilot qualifications."

•Service/Comfort. Cabins are smaller on regional jets than on larger aircraft, and so are the seats. Also, many regional jets don't offer adequate overhead bins, galleys or premium seating. Some smaller planes are not even jetbridge-compatible, necessitating outdoor boarding and deplaning. When business or first classes are provided, often they don't consist of considerably larger seats, hot meals or any number of entertainment products offered by the same airlines on larger planes. What's more, access for the handicapped and compatibility of child-restraint systems can be much more difficult.

•Reliability. According to the DOT's most recent annual rankings, regionals were dead last among the 16 domestic carriers rated for mishandled baggage, and dead last with the most canceled flights. Several regionals also ranked at the bottom for involuntarily bumping passengers. Furthermore, making sense of the DOT's monthly Air Travel Consumer Reports can be difficult because regional operators are broken out separately from the mainline airline partners they represent. This can be particularly confusing because a mainline airline can contract with as many as eight different regionals, while a single regional carrier can contract with multiple mainlines; therefore their service rankings are a muddled mess.

•Environment. As I learned while researching this topic, examining commercial aviation's carbon footprint is a complex undertaking. But while we all await further technological advancements, the most controllable way to reduce the nation's airborne pollutants is the controversial solution of reexamining how airlines schedule their aircraft. For example, the Regional Airline Association notes that every morning regionals operate 30 of the 35 nonstop departures between Washington and New York, hardly a "thin" route between small markets. Clogging gates, taxiways, runways, and airways with smaller airplanes rather than consolidating such flights with larger aircraft is a big-picture problem that has been left to the airline industry to address—ineffectively. An even more sensible solution is to reexamine where and when alternative transportation modes such as rail should be considered.

Buyer beware

The best advice when you book ANY flight through ANY booking channel—online or offline, through an airline or through a third-party ticket seller—is to ensure you're clear on which carrier is actually operating the flight. If you have doubts, don't book until you're satisfied.
 
Pinnacle didn't have pax and three others were not jets. The pilots involved in the Colgan crash would've met the new requirements when they were hired.
 
The article singled out rjs and the author chose 4 accidents out of five that don't support his claims about rj passenger operations. The loss of life is unfortunate and he shouldn't use it to embellish his story Innapropriately.
 
The article singled out rjs and the author chose 4 accidents out of five that don't support his claims about rj passenger operations. The loss of life is unfortunate and he shouldn't use it to embellish his story Innapropriately.

Good thing...if there were RJ's flying into airports the props fly, there would be many more accidents. Maybe it's good he didn't mention that?

All teasing and kidding aside...

Obviously what type of propulsion on a plane is irrelevant. His point was not the fact that some airplanes have a gearbox and a larger fan than others, his point was the outsourcing and muddling of service providers. Whether its a turboprop or turbofan operator, it's still disingenuous and the entry requirements are pathetically low.
 
Hey, I'm civilian and proud of that background- but I don't for a second feel that regionals are nearly as safe as the majors. Taking away experience, scheduling alone creates that. But with seniority flipped on its head with all the whipsawing and farming out of jobs- I simply disagree with the model.
 
The author wants a mainline carrier to put a large aircraft on his preferred route. Never mind that it might not be half - filled. Oh yeah he wants you to keep the same frequency of scheduled flights so he doesn"t have to wait for a flight. Tools! I saw a similar story not too long ago in "Conde Nastier".
 
The author wants a mainline carrier to put a large aircraft on his preferred route. Never mind that it might not be half - filled. Oh yeah he wants you to keep the same frequency of scheduled flights so he doesn"t have to wait for a flight. Tools! I saw a similar story not too long ago in "Conde Nastier".

Don't know where you pulled that conclusion from. What we (people who buy their own tickets) really want is responsibility. Two years ago my bag went missing. I called Delta, they referred me to ASA, because they operated the flight. ASA sends me to Comair, because they handled the bags. Comair sends me back to Delta because they sold me the ticket. I was lucky. My bag showed up after two days. But the total lack of responsibility for the operation is unacceptable. Hence his call for transparency. And when he talks about seamless, he is dead nuts!
 
And one more thing. The regionals are not to blame for the on time disparity. When delays occur, the major airline decides which flights get priority. They tell the regional to cancel so they can operate the larger revenue flight. Understandable, but then the hit should go to the airline who called the shot.
 

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