Soxfan From United States, joined Mar 2008, 182 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 5081 times:
Hi Everyone,
Several US airlines currently fly regional jets with first-class seating.
Delta: CRJ900
Northwest: CRJ900 and ERJ175
United: CRJ700 and ERJ170
US Airways: ERJ190
As most regional jets are used for shorter flights (although many have begun to be stretched farther), I'm wondering what the incentive is for the passenger to fly in first class as opposed to coach on these planes. At least for the above airlines, there is no provided entertainment, food service (if any) is usually a snack, and the legroom is usually only 4-5 inches more than coach. A few possible reasons I'm come up with for why a passenger might fly in first class are:
1) The passenger's ticket is being paid for.
2) The passenger wants a solo seat instead of a 2x2 layout for the rest of the plane.
3) The passenger wants the few extra inches of legroom.
4) The passenger wants to be the first off the plane.
5) The passenger has a connecting flight in which he or she is traveling in a premium class.
Do these seem like valid reasons? Can anyone else share some insight as to why some passengers might fly first class on regional jets? Thanks for your thoughts!
Nws2002 From United States, joined Feb 2008, 75 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 5043 times:
The airlines have placed first class seats on these flights because it keeps their frequent fliers happy with upgrades. That's about the only reason, I doubt they get much direct revenue from first class seating on regional flights, although some RJ routes are pretty long. The revenue comes in from the passenger connecting to another flight.
DeltAirlines From United States, joined May 1999, 5936 posts, RR: 9 Reply 5, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 5025 times:
Quoting Nws2002 (Reply 2): The airlines have placed first class seats on these flights because it keeps their frequent fliers happy with upgrades.
That's the reason I fly First Class on the RJs - I get the upgrades for free as an elite. That's going to be the case for a lot of these passengers.
On some routes, such as DL out of JFK, these First Class seats help lure premium cabin traffic, as they can have one-stop service and a First Class seat all the way from their origin to destination.
COERJ145 From United States, joined Jun 2005, 1288 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 4892 times:
Quoting Soxfan (Thread starter): there is no provided entertainment, food service (if any) is usually a snack, and the legroom is usually only 4-5 inches more than coach. A few possible reasons I'm come up with for why a passenger might fly in first class are:
AFAIK NW equipped the E175s and CRJ-900s with hot galleys to provide the same first class food service as mainline flights.
DL767captain From United States, joined Mar 2007, 1165 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 4659 times:
I'm thinking it's a couple reasons.
1. To allow customers that are using the RJs in a connecting flight who paid/upgraded for first on the longer flight leg can remain in first class the whole time.
2. To upgrade frequent fliers.
The first one seems to make a little more sense. If i'm flying SAN-LAX-IAD in first class and the SAN-LAX portion is on a regional jet it would be nice to still be offered first class, kinda lame to be put in coach on the small leg of the flight.
Jariarkko From Finland, joined Jun 2007, 14 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 4589 times:
Quoting DeltAirlines (Reply 5): That's the reason I fly First Class on the RJs - I get the upgrades for free as an elite.
Circular logic. You fly F because you get it for free. But is there some advantage to it?
I can also see the airline's benefit in the above Less seats, no more income. This must be why the U.S. airlines are doing so well...
FWIW, in Europe there is business class on short flights and the difference to economy is extremely minor, more or less the same seats but maybe with better meal service. You get to sit in the front, which is useful for getting out faster in larger planes. For small planes that does not matter.
I only fly in the better class if I have to, which the airlines often manage to force me to do (ticket rules on short trips, availability of seats, etc). I suppose there are people who also do that to get more frequent flyer miles.
AirStairs From United States, joined Jul 2008, 248 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 4444 times:
From my understanding, it is generally to serve connecting passengers as the F fares for such short hops alone are rarely justifiable (hell, so are the Y fares).
I used to buy the $50 check-in upgrades for the PHX-LAX flights when HP offered F seating on the CR7 for a short while. Probably not worth it; but, certainly more comfortable and not extortion when I only paid ~$150 in the first place.
Soxfan From United States, joined Mar 2008, 182 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (1 month 1 week 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 4294 times:
These are all good points; what I find interesting about RJs, is that the coach seating configuration is 2x2, which tends to be the first class configuration on mainline aircraft (except, FlyNavy, for US's ERJ190s ), not 2x3 or 3x3 so there is no real middle seat, and it doesn't seem like the first seats offer THAT much more room due to the limitations posed by the plane size. It seems that most people agree that connecting on a F flight, or free upgrades are the primary reasons for passengers to fly in first. Would you say that airlines get a lot of direct revenue off of putting first class on these planes, as it has the potential to eliminate between 2-4 coach seats; it doesn't seem like a lot, but free upgrades bring in less money than coach passengers. I wonder how many paid passengers actually choose to fly in first on these planes, apart from those connecting.
Fanoftristars From United States, joined Jul 2000, 1457 posts, RR: 4 Reply 16, posted (1 month 1 week 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 4187 times:
Quoting Nycbjr (Reply 8): Im guessing the scope clause is a major consideration.. alone with keeping elite FF's happy.
I think those two reasons are absolutely the two biggest reasons with the third being that people actually pay for the seat. DL's connection carriers are limited to 76 seats max before the plane must be flown by mainline pilots, thus you end up with a CRJ-900 with exactly 76 seats, and based on the size, that leaves plenty of room for a small F cabin.
Burnsie28 From United States, joined Aug 2004, 4502 posts, RR: 9 Reply 17, posted (1 month 1 week 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 4120 times:
Quoting COERJ145 (Reply 7): AFAIK NW equipped the E175s and CRJ-900s with hot galleys to provide the same first class food service as mainline flights.
Yes, I have flown both in FC, the E175 MSP-DFW and it was a hot reuben (spelling) sandwich going down. Coming back I flew the CRJ-900 at dinner and it was an amazing chicken enchilada meal. Rice, beans, the works.
Quoting Warreng24 (Reply 9): UA provides a complimentary snackbox to passengers in F (on flights longer than 759 miles) as well as complimentary alcoholic beverages.
Hopefully they will upgrade that one day to meet the likes of NW and DL.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 6105 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (1 month 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3747 times:
Quoting Jariarkko (Reply 13): FWIW, in Europe there is business class on short flights and the difference to economy is extremely minor, more or less the same seats but maybe with better meal service. You get to sit in the front, which is useful for getting out faster in larger planes. For small planes that does not matter.
And on larger aircraft like 737s and A320s with 3-3 seating, many European carriers don't sell the middle seat in business class so you're guaranteed an empty seat next to you. LH also does this in business class on their CRJs which have the same 2-2 seating as Y class but they only sell one of each pair of 2 seats so again you always have an empty seat next to you.
UAL747 From United States, joined Dec 1999, 5657 posts, RR: 15 Reply 20, posted (1 month 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3575 times:
I just got done flying OKC-ORD-HNL in first and the OKC flight was on a CRJ-700 and I was in "ExecPlus" which I guess is the Regionals first class. It's funny, because I was the only one in the entire first section and I was in 1A which is the single seated side and there was a lot of legroom in the bulkhead. They served a large snack box and preflight drinks andof course inflight drinks, but it wasn't in glass. I don't think I would have paid for it had I just been on the CRJ and wasn't connecting to an 8hr flight.
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From United States, joined Mar 2008, 182 posts, 
kidding of course 
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From Faroe Islands, joined Mar 2002, 3130 posts, 
From Finland, joined Jun 2007, 14 posts, 
Less seats, no more income. This must be why the U.S. airlines are doing so well...
), not 2x3 or 3x3 so there is no real middle seat, and it doesn't seem like the first seats offer THAT much more room due to the limitations posed by the plane size. It seems that most people agree that connecting on a F flight, or free upgrades are the primary reasons for passengers to fly in first. Would you say that airlines get a lot of direct revenue off of putting first class on these planes, as it has the potential to eliminate between 2-4 coach seats; it doesn't seem like a lot, but free upgrades bring in less money than coach passengers. I wonder how many paid passengers actually choose to fly in first on these planes, apart from those connecting.
From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 6105 posts,