4 hours Ago By Lukas Souza
Several years ago, American carriers were faced with the need to replace aging 50-seat aircraft, like the Bombardier CRJ 100/200 and Embraer ERJ-145. As the world’s two major regional jet manufacturers, Embraer and Bombardier , had stopped manufacturing 50-seat planes, a roundabout solution was needed. Bombardier’s solution was to take the CRJ700, which is a larger aircraft, and reduce the number of seats to 50 to meet all regulations.
In February 2019, FlightGlobal reported that Bombardier was moving forward with the certification of the 50-seat model of the CRJ700 - the CRJ550. At the time, it was announced that United would be the first airline to introduce the planes to its operations under GoJet Airlines, which is based in St. Louis.
At the time, certification was expected during the second half of the year. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said, "The verdict on whether this product is a short-term band aid or a long-term solution will hinge on the company's ability to adequately make up for the revenue lost due to the removal of 20 seats.” On September 26, 2019, GoJet shared on its Facebook that the CRJ550 had been certified.
At the time, Bombardier’s President Fred Cromer said, “The new CRJ550 model is the only solution in North America that can replace the existing fleet of aging 50-seaters, a market of over 700 aircraft. It offers improved passenger experience with ample on-board storage for carry-on bags and more passenger living space. This is one more example of how we are focusing on creating value for our customers and a very important endorsement from United in regards to the CRJ platform.
” The inaugural flight of the CRJ550 was at the beginning of October from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) in Pennsylvania. According to Zach Griff of The Points Guy , one of the things that immediately stood out when he boarded the inaugural flight was “how spacious the aircraft felt.” Until July of this year, GoJet was the only airline to operate the CRJ550.
However, SkyWest Airlines began flying the type in July for Delta Air Lines under the Delta Connection brand. The aircraft operated by SkyWest are nearly the same, but all seats have power outlets and USB in-seat power. The first class seats on the Delta variants have smaller pitch than the United planes, with 36".
The Delta Comfort+ seats have 34" pitch, and economy has 31". According to data from Cirium , an aviation analytics firm, there are 8,036 CRJ550 flights scheduled in the United States this month. Of these, 6,387 are United flights operated by GoJet.
With more than 8,000 flights, there are 401,800 seats available. The busiest route is from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), which is operated up to nine times daily. The EWR-DCA route is only marketed by United and operated by GoJet and has more than 20,000 seats this month.
The second-busiest route is from GoJet's home city, St. Louis, to Chicago. The flight from St.
Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) to ORD is just 258 miles and operated up to six times daily by GoJet. The third-busiest route is also a United route from its hub at EWR. From Newark, United deploys the CRJ550 on up to five daily flights to Richmond International Airport (RIC) in Virginia.
There are more than 15,000 seats available this month. 4 50 seats instead of 70 The CRJ550 is a premium-heavy aircraft. As Bombardier needed to remove 20 seats from the plane, United decided it would add more premium options for its passengers.
So, the airline chose to equip the planes with 10 first class seats and a further 20 Economy Plus seats. The 10 first class seats are set in a 1-2 configuration at the front of the plane. According to United, each of these seats has a 42” seat pitch (the measure of legroom space between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat in front of it).
The recline on the first class seats is 5”, and the seat width is 19 3⁄4” - 20”. All the seats in the first class cabin are equipped with power outlets and USB ports. The 20 Economy Plus seats are set in a 2-2 configuration, like regular economy.
The seat pitch is 34”-36”, and the recline is 3”. The exit row for the Economy Plus cabin is row 11, the last row of Economy Plus seats. The seat width in Economy Plus is 17” and every seat features USB ports but not power outlets.
There are five rows of economy seats, 12-17. These are also set in a 2-2 configuration and have the same seat width as Economy Plus. The difference is that there is less legroom, pitch is just 30” and the recline is 2.
5”. Like Economy Plus, economy has USB ports and no power outlets. 3 Snack and beverage bar The CRJ550 is no longer the only plane in United’s fleet to feature a snack bar, but it was the first.
At the front of the first class cabin, passengers can grab snacks and drinks on demand. According to Zach Griff, the snack and beverage bar is not that great of a feature. As Griff was on the inaugural, he noted that because there is only one flight attendant on the CRJ550, first class passengers were left waiting for some drinks to be replaced and to be served alcohol.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that alcohol be served by a flight attendant, and on the CRJ550, flight attendants prioritize service in the economy cabin, as there are 40 seats. When United planned to add the CRJ550, the first route it announced was from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA). This was because the airline said it was losing business to other airlines as employees of Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville, wanted more premium options.
A Reddit thread about the CRJ550 on United has several users that highlight the snack bar, with one saying, “ I love the snack bar/window...
Definitely my fave commuter jet. ” 2 Luggage closets A problem with regional jets is that carry-on bins are smaller, and the capacity for rollaboard bags is reduced significantly. Larger planes like the Embraer E175 have more space and can accommodate rollaboards, but oftentimes, passengers are asked to check their carry-ons because of limited bin space.
When designing the plane, Bombardier knew that despite having 20 fewer seats than the traditional CRJ700, there would be extra space. So, the second major feature that was added was the luggage closets. There are four closets on the CRJ550, designed to store 12 bags each, six on each shelf.
According to Griff, each shelf was 32 inches wide, 28 inches deep, and 22 inches high. One of the closets is slightly smaller, but still fits nine bags. Because of the additional space, Griff recounted that on the inaugural flight, not one passenger needed to gate check their bag.
He did mention that a bit of “Tetris” needed to be played, as passengers were figuring out the best way to accommodate all the bags. One closet is located at the front of the aircraft on the left side, across from the snack bar. There is a second closet on the left side, located right behind seat 4A and in front of the Economy Plus seats.
The last two closets are located directly next to each other, behind seats 3C and 3D. 1 Scope clause benefits Scope clauses are contracts between major airlines and pilots unions that limit both the size of regional aircraft that a regional carrier can fly and the number of panes it can fly. Currently, the cap on regional aircraft is 76 passengers and the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) cannot exceed 86,000 pounds.
Each union has negotiated scope clauses that limit the airline. A Simple Flying report on scope clauses says, “The scope clause ensures that mainline airlines hire pilots rather than outsource flying. If large airlines want to grow their regional operations, they must first expand their mainline operations or create a new agreement with their pilots' union.
Scope clauses protect pilots hired on mainlines, but a lesser understood value is to regional pilots.” A closer look at the reason why pilots' unions limit regional jets to 76 seats. Because airlines are limited on how many regional jets can be operated, the CRJ 550 came about.
The modified CRJ700 now has a MTOW of 65,000 pounds, 10,000 pounds less than its 70-seat counterpart. According to the ALPA, “In order to be in compliance with the United pilot agreement, the CRJ550 will instead be configured with 50 seats in a two-class cabin and certified to a maximum takeoff weight of 65,000 pounds.” Though Bombardier believed there was a massive demand for replacement of 50-seat aircraft, Embraer countered that, “As airlines continue to buy new E175 to replace older 70-seaters (E170 and CRJ700), those will become available in the market for very attractive prices.
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