RTWin10 wrote:jetblastdubai wrote:STT757 wrote: If they were to cancel the A350 order they should use the deposits for A220s. United can add an additional 70 ERJ-175s to their Express operation if they add 88 new 100 seat mainline.
On the other hand, UA management already stated that a 100-seater didn't make sense for them and AA dumped their 100-seat E190s as well.
Instead of acquiring a new plane UA doesn't want just to appease ALPA and (current) scope language, why not just let mainline pilots fly the additional E175s? Pilot pay would no doubt be a bit more than what regionals pay but it might not be all that much more to the bottom line after factoring in the costs associated with a totally new type. This would allow for unlimited 76-seat capacity, allow for more up gauging from the retired single-class RJs as well as keeping the fleet types to a minimum.
I know the E175 would be a new type to UA but the A/C type already exists in the UA/UAX system so it's not like they'd be starting from scratch. The A220/E190 would be totally new.
If you assign mainline pilots the fly the E175s, I believe you would need mainline flight attendants, mechanics, and dispatchers as well which will increase CASM.
Plus, there's enough similarities between the E175's and E195's that if UA were going to put their own crews on one, it would be the larger, just for economies of scale. The only reason that UA Express is flying 175's instead of 190's is because of the scope clause limitations. It's the same reason why all of their new 737/320 orders are for MAX8/9/10 instead of 7's and A321NEOs, instead of 320/319.
AA may have dumped their tiny oddball fleet of E190's, but DL went out and ordered A220's.
At a certain point UA will have markets that will be better served by a plane somewhere in between 76 and 150 seats. They currently have a smaller gap in seats between the different sizes of widebodies in their fleet. I think the tipping point is going to happen when the cost of regional pilots goes up. Current pay isn't attracting enough people to the field, so supply and demand either says that mainline has to take over flights regionals can't sustain, or regionals have to raise pay, increasing contract costs to mainline, and shrinking the delta between regional and mainline pay, which would change the economic breakeven of flying a 100-120 seater.