Quietly, United has replaced a number of its flights with Shuttle America/United Express E170s between ORD and LGA. At prime times, no less. 8 AM ORD-LGA, for example. Yet another reason to fly AA. Who wants to make that trip in a claustrophobic regional jet with dramatically reduced chances to upgrade? I know a Premier Exec flier who was sentenced to 15B, which is back-of-the-plane on that aircraft.
oh the horrible E170. What a cramped terrible aircraft. I flew DFW-ORD on one which is about 80NM longer than LGAORD , and still had movement of all limbs.
Now, the fact that mainline flying is disappearing sucks if that is the case, BUT! if they are repositioning those aircraft for flights that yield better then there’s nothing wrong with it. 9 mainlines 6 Junglejets is what I count if the change has already taken place. It looks like there’s plenty of choices if you ask me!
Have you ever been on an E170? it’s hardly a claustrophobic aircraft.
If you want to be on a mainline aircraft, wait :58 minutes.
Also, 8AM ORD departure isn’t a “prime time” as you have to still wake up early to take it and don’t get to LGA until 11:09 AM, meaning you missed the whole morning in NYC. People who intend on having a full day of business in NYC take the 6 AM and those going in for the afternoon tend to take the 8:58 which arrives a little after noon, so you get to NYC just as locals are returning from lunch.
Plus the EMB-170 has a Economy Plus or Biz Class section so the Prem Exec’s dont have to get sentenced to 15B.
To flush the sarcasm from my last post, I am quite a fan of the Embraer family. From working the 145 and being a PAX on all of them except that Phenom, this to me is one of the great modern airliner manufacturer’s .
Another thing to note, I can remember the good old days when the 68 seat DC-9-15 at TW ( 68 seat a/c, 2 seats less than the Junglejet) was a mainline aircraft, not a regional jet.
The OP obviously hasn’t been on a E170.
By no means is this, or the E190 claustrophobic. The E170 is obviously shorter than a B737 or A319, but the E195 is only 12 feet shorter than the B739! Seats up to 122 people (single class), and has nearly the same range as the 737 Classic series. Hell of a lot quieter (and the seat I had on the RPA E170s was behind the engine!) than UAL’s mainline fleet, and one of the most comfortable rides I’ve ever been on.
YMMV, but on the trips I’ve flown on an E170 before, it was one of the best flights I’ve ever taken.
BL.
His beef was less (6 vs 12 on the a-320) first class seats available to upgrade to. Valid complaint.
My first flight was on an Embraer Brasilia - actually my first couple of flights. Now those are a different story. And loud as hell too.
[quote=“deef1999”]
Might be me, but that complaint sounds rather superficial.
If the OP wants to fly first class, that is his prerogative, but you can’t discount the comfortability, how quiet, and, honestly, how sleek the E170 is compared to an ERJ, CRJ, or DC9, especially if one hasn’t ever flown on one of them before. They are far from as bad as the OP makes them out to be, and completely far from claustrophobic. Bloody hell, they’re making business jets out of E190, with longer range than the ACJ and the BBJ!
I’d laugh if the AAL flight the OP would rather prefer gets replaced by an E135 or E140 flown by EGF.
BL.
[quote=“tyketto”]
Again, his beef was with the narrow body E-170 4 across coach(vs a-320 6 across, NOT another regional jet) with 1/2 as many first class seats(6 vs. 12) to upgrade into, which greatly reduces his chance of an upgrade. If 4 seats in F are booked that leaves 2 on the e-170 vs. 8 on the a-320 for upgrades. Valid complaint.
Then the answer is simple. Choose another flight. It was the OP’s choice to take that flight, and if they did not like the choice of seating on that flight, don’t fly on that plane, and take the later flight. Unless there was some compelling reason that they needed to be in New York that early in the morning, they have their choice of later flights on larger planes. You’re still going to get to your destination, and if upgrade status is the only complaint for that particular flight, like I said, that’s a rather superficial complaint.
BL.
Or another AIRLINE at the time he wants to leave that flys the equipment he feels is justified, which AGAIN, was his point. Why are you defending UAL and the E-170? Based on his criteria, neither are getting the job done for him. He was just expressing his opinion, why do you feel the need to try to discredit him when he is correct?
No discredit at all. Yes, he stated his opinion, and in flying the E170, I’ve felt the complete opposite. My opinion as well. On the E170s I’ve been on, niether myself, my SO, our guide dog, nor anyone else on the flights have ever experienced any claustrophobia or anything of the sort for the duration of the flight, and that was half-way across the country (SJC-SDF). The E170 may be smaller, yes, but like I mentioned with the specs, the E190s just about equal the size of a B737, A318, A319, and A320 in length, and can seat just as many as the Classic models can, with the same range as the classic models.
He can fly whatever airline he wants; I don’t care. But if that other airline decides to fill that route with a plane that is smaller, slower, or worse, perhaps he’ll reconsider his views on the aircraft he was on.
Why are you defending UAL and the E-170?
To paraphrase you, Do you work for AAL or Boeing, or are you just some shill for them? Oh wait… there was already a word for that: Fanboy.
BL.
Your opinion is noted and appreciated.
For the record I never mentioned AAL or Boeing (or any of their equipment). I compared the E-170 to the Airbus A-320(as did the OP), did you read what I(he) wrote? I also favored the A-320 based on the criteria he presented. As for your mention of the E-190, that is irrelevant to this discussion. Oh and FYI, AAL fly Mad Dogs on that route for most if not all departures.
Yet in another post, you harp over UAL’s use of the Airbus with the incident at EWR. So which is it? for, or against?
I also mentioed that while the E170 is shorter, the E190 is slightly shorter than what both Boeing and Airbus have to offer, yet uses the same fuselage. Oh well. potayto, potahto.
Oh and FYI, AAL fly Mad Dogs on that route for most if not all departures.
Thank you for that information. It goes along with my saying that AAL uses worse aircraft. 
BL.
I don’t think it’s any secret that I prefer American companies to buy American aircraft, keeping Americans working. I think I’ve made that clear.
But the OP didn’t ask MY preference of aircraft, he aired a beef with UAL and I happen to agree with him. Nothing more.
E190 is a 4 across coach, just like the E-170. How is that the same fuselage as Boeing and Airbus?
Emb 9ft-0in
Boeing 11ft 7in
Airbus 12ft 2in
All inside cabin dimensions.
Ahh yes the 120! I worked for one company that had them, but only flew on ours once, and Skywest on another for a total of 2 times. I didn’t really dislike them, it reminded me of a SAAB. I personally like a loud turboprop though, bouncy, each aircraft had distinct characteristics from a PAX standpoint that really gave them charactor.
Ahh yes the 120! I worked for one company that had them, but only flew on ours once, and Skywest on another for a total of 2 times. I didn’t really dislike them, it reminded me of a SAAB. I personally like a loud turboprop though, bouncy, each aircraft had distinct characteristics from a PAX standpoint that really gave them charactor.
Well, like I said, that was my first few flights, so I was so excited that I really didn’t care - I was just happy to be in the sky. I do remember flying back Comair from Cinci to GSP on one - sat over the wing the entire flight and couldn’t hear a thing for about the next week or so. “Loud, bouncy turboprop” doesn’t really do it justice!
See that was flying though! Alot of my turboprop pax experience was in the back of a J-31. . that makes the Brasilia, feel like a 777. No yaw damper, no autopilot, air conditioner that was deferred in May didn’t have to be fixed til August, no prop synch, or at least it never worked, oh yeah!
But for some reason, there was something about it that will stick out ini my mind for ever, there was charactor, and now while I’m still very aware of the aircraft type I’m getting on, it’s pretty much the same ride , in my eyes.
I can’t argue with you there! I’m 31 years old; been on countless commercial flights in all different types of aircraft to all different parts of the country. No matter what I’m on and where I’m going, I’m still that guy with his head stuck to the window, watching every single bit of what is going on outside. Started working on my PPL late last year and am slowly getting my hours - I’m still like a little kid when it comes to aviation. Out of everything I’ve done, flying is the only thing that never loses it’s fun (at least for me), no matter if I’m in the front or the back. I have no reason to believe I’ll feel any different at 80 than I do today. That’s why I’m on here - I think you guys are the only one’s that truly understand!