Internet Travel Monitor Article

Internet Travel Monitor - Research & Legislation Alert

August 7, 2003

Regional Jet Use is Growing

Newark, NJ - Rob, the lone flight attendant on Continental Express Flight 29180 from Newark, N.J., to Daytona Beach, Fla., said the little jet was going nowhere until at least two people moved to the back.

"We have to balance the load," he said.

It's a common request on this type of aircraft, a 50-seat ERJ145 made by Brazil's Embraer, an "RJ" as it's known in the trade. RJ stands for regional jet, defined as a jet with 30 to 100 seats. The sleek aircraft are similar to corporate jets but with interiors outfitted for those who fly coach.

Since the mid-1990s, these snappy planes that cruise as high and as fast as larger counterparts, with a range of more than 1,000 miles, have been swarming into the nation's airports.

They've replaced turboprops on short hauls, retired MD-80s and Boeing 737s on half-empty routes, and allowed airlines to launch new routes to small cities. Book a seat on a domestic flight with a major airline and the odds are increasing it will be on a small jet operated by a regional affiliate.

According to the Regional Air Service Initiative, a trade group, departures by regional jets rose 41 percent between July 2001 and July 2002, while takeoffs by big jets fell 11 percent. Industry experts say about 1,400 regional jets are flying worldwide. Jet-engine maker General Electric estimates the number will grow to 8,000 by 2021.

The Regional Airline Association says that 88 million domestic passengers, one of every seven now fly on either a propeller plane or regional jet operated by a regional airline.

Through what may be commercial aviation's worst financial crisis, regional jets have been "a runaway success," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition.

Retired Wall Street trader Bill Smith, a frequent flier, was one of the Flight 29180 passengers who volunteered to move to the back for Rob.

"There is a reason nobody is sitting back here," he said, sliding into a seat over the wing. "It's noisier." But it's not as noisy, nor as shaky, as a turboprop, he said. And if you get a seat in the row of single seats, it's "about as good as it gets."

Still, even for the cramped world of coach, space is tight.

In the ERJ145, about 18 rows of seats -- two on one side, one on the other -- run the length of the 54-foot-long cabin, which is less than 7 feet wide. Those 6 feet or taller have to duck when boarding.

Cozy cabins have not kept them from increasing market share.

Regional airlines have remained profitable through the travel slump after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The regional jets will soar only so high before market pressures bring them down, Mitchell said.

Regional airlines are facing the same cost-cutting pressures, hardball contract renegotiations, higher security costs and competition from discounters that the big jet operators that employ them face.

And thanks to the discounters such as JetBlue and Southwest, business travelers on which regional jets rely may never again be willing to pay sky-high prices when booking a flight on short notice, he said.

"Regional jets depend on the high-yield business traveler, and that pricing environment is collapsing," he said.

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