South West you never be stuck in a small jet

They could put lazyboy recliners in the ERJ and it won't solve the problem. The thing is the jet equivalent to the San Antonio Sewerpipe (Metroliner for you kids). It is claustrophobic and many passengers don't like that feeling. The 737 cabin - even in the middle seat - feels more comfortable.

Now I know i'll get flamed for this, but I have to admit I feel more comfortable on a 737 than an RJ due to the relative experience of the flightcrew. I believe that hiring requirements have gotten way too low, and upgrade times far too short at the regionals. I can't help but remember how I felt flying J31s and Saabs around at below FL180. I was so far behind the plane I was hanging from the rudder trim tab! And I was hired with over 1500TT and 500ME. So forgive me if my own past experience makes me feel a little squeamish when I climb aboard an RJ and see an F/O with spikey hair, wearing his Ipod in the cockpit with a flightbag sticker that says, "Don't tell my mom, she thinks i'm at the movies".

Ok. Flame away.
 
I jumpseat a lot. Most recently, I had a company paid deadhead from ONT-MCI. As per the contract, I was on SWA, as the Xjet flight was over the 2+30 allowed on a "small jet". Lucky for me, the cab never showed up at UPS to take me to the terminal at 5am. That made me "miss" my SWA flight. Scheduling was in a panic. I happily told them "well, there is a DIRECT flight on Xjet that leaves in an hour and gets me in earlier than the SWA thing did". They put me on it and all was well. The alternative was SWA ONT-PHX-MCI. Not a pretty sight....
 
ZapBrannigan said:
They could put lazyboy recliners in the ERJ and it won't solve the problem. The thing is the jet equivalent to the San Antonio Sewerpipe (Metroliner for you kids). It is claustrophobic and many passengers don't like that feeling. The 737 cabin - even in the middle seat - feels more comfortable.

Now I know i'll get flamed for this, but I have to admit I feel more comfortable on a 737 than an RJ due to the relative experience of the flightcrew. I believe that hiring requirements have gotten way too low, and upgrade times far too short at the regionals. I can't help but remember how I felt flying J31s and Saabs around at below FL180. I was so far behind the plane I was hanging from the rudder trim tab! And I was hired with over 1500TT and 500ME. So forgive me if my own past experience makes me feel a little squeamish when I climb aboard an RJ and see an F/O with spikey hair, wearing his Ipod in the cockpit with a flightbag sticker that says, "Don't tell my mom, she thinks i'm at the movies".

Ok. Flame away.
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Agree with everything you said Zap. Well said.
 
I BUY tickets a LOT for work because I travel every week to our locations (gee I sound like a pilot--except I'm paying for the ticket often at the last minute!). I don't shop price first. I shop non-stop first and schedule. And I'll never fly an RJ unless it's the only option. I don't have the experience flying lots of RJ's, but DH does in commuting and finding they are cancelled more often. The only times I ever had to book on them, they were cancelled and I was re routed all around the country. All those times, I missed the meetings I was scheduled to run--how embarassing! So I book away now.
 
I fly CO often, in coach, and in the exit row. Very comfy. Otherwise...

I'd just love to see some of you folks doing JFK to MXP on a 707 in coach back in 1969, without LNAV, VNAV, FMS, Autothrottle, Autoland, or even spoilers that could be set to auto. Don't even think about any "glass" in the cockpit- my Piper Dakota was overall better equipped. ;)

MXP????

Milan Malpensa (that's the primary airport at Milan, Italy).

I have no problem with RJs or 737s. They serve the purpose. Then again, I have flown on:

707,727,737,747,757,767,777,DC-8,DC-9,DC-10,MD-80,A300,A310,A320,A340,L1011,ERJ-145,F-27,F-28,BAC-111,ATR-72,B-1900, the Caravelle, and Concorde. I have probably forgotten a few too.

Anyone here ever fly on a Caravelle???

Guess which commercial jet airliner was the FIRST to have autoland capability?

Sorry, it was not the A320 or the L1011. I never flew on the Trident, but I have a good friend who was a captain of one, it was the second aircraft to have such.

After all this, and over 44 years on airplanes, I'll still take bigger over smaller.

Sorry!:D

Okay, I went off the subject a bit, and I was not meaning to brag, but at times one needs to experience a bit.

The 737 is not the world's best selling airliner for nothing, you know, and I've flown on the -200,-300,-400,-500 and -800 versions of them.
 
Tram said:
So Bob...

Do you guys fly "both" of them or are they two seperate sides of the house?
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It's all based on your... Base. ;)

If you are:

IAH, CLE, or EWR... then you're flying Continental Express
SAT or ONT... then you're flying XJET
LAX... you're flying Delta Connection

We can pick up trips in open time in any base... and the reserves have been known to float from base to base too.

Bob
 
Over Labor Day I flew on United Airlines BDL-ORD and back. The first leg was on United Express operated by Shuttle America. I was very pleased by how comfortable the aircraft was although I was seated in the economy plus section (free upgrade for weight purposes :confused:). I especially liked the lack of a middle seat which is where I was stuck on the return flight on a 737-500. All in all the E-170 was quite nice.
 
loubetti said:
I'd just love to see some of you folks doing JFK to MXP on a 707 in coach back in 1969, without LNAV, VNAV, FMS, Autothrottle, Autoland, or even spoilers that could be set to auto. Don't even think about any "glass" in the cockpit- my Piper Dakota was overall better equipped. ;)
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the 707 had glass........but you looked out them, not flew by them...ok, maybe you did fly by looking out them back then! ;)
 
DE727UPS said:
I've flown SWA. I've flown Xjet. Same route, same day, I'd look to go on Xjet over SWA. Xjet has a superior product, in my mind, after all things are considered.
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Good to hear Don. I feel the same way. A lot of my friends that travel for business tell me they would rather be on an RJ than risk being in a middle seat on a larger plane. The seat pitch isn't really that much different between the two.

I got stuck in the middle seat the other day on a UA 757 and it sucked.
 
I find the commercial annoying and stupid. Then again, my livlihood depends on the "small planes" which they are disparaging. I think it's pathetic when any company feels the need to criticize someone elses product in their advertising rather than focusing on the upsides of their own product. In my opinion, a good product should be sold on it's own merit, not the negatives of its competition. The whole "small plane" bit should've just been left out, with more emphasis on the "big comfortable 737" part. Besides, it's not exactly a crap shoot what kind of plane you're going to get on a legacy carrier, you are told what the aircraft type will be when you buy the ticket.

It's especially bad that Southwest is a major sponsor of the NFL, so I'm stuck seeing this commercial over and over again during football games. Southwest can trumpet how different they are as much as they like, but all signs seem to point toward wn becoming a big, lumbering, legacy just as fast as they can.
 
My sister makes frequent trips SAT-RDU and when Xjet branding started up she had nothing but great things to say about it. Better service, price, plane, etc. My ERJ experience on COexpress was ok but it had the hardest damn seats I've ever had in a plane. One thing I did take notice was the faster turn times at the gate compared to a SWA turn on the 737, though I had my first experience out on the stand instead of a jetway and I'm sure that never happens with 737s. Surprisingly I didn't see anybody really complain about it as I expected they would.
 
I hadn't done any riding in ERJs until recently. Sure, the cabin diameter is smaller, but that didn't bother me any. And the lack of a "middle" seat is a bonus.
 
Alchemy said:
I find the commercial annoying and stupid. Then again, my livlihood depends on the "small planes" which they are disparaging. I think it's pathetic when any company feels the need to criticize someone elses product in their advertising rather than focusing on the upsides of their own product.
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That's the only way Southwest can advertise, because the only upside to their product is the price.
 
Cav said:
It comes down to price and convenience. The people will still fly on a small jet if the price is right and the flight/connections are convenient. They'll complain about a small jet but very few will pay more and travel longer just to get on a larger aircraft.
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You got it!

Flying public only cares about bottom line price.

Albany to Orlando through Baltimore on SWA for $291.34 on 737(s)

vs.

Albany to Orlando through LaGuardia via Saab 340 on US Airways (Express) to A319 for $231.99.

Public will go with the Airways ticket.
 
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