Regional Flights Are Improved / The Aim is to Lure Business Travelers With Roomier Aircraft

Airlines are adding new regional jets with first-class seats, roomier cabins and, in some cases, hot food.

The carriers are hoping business travelers tired of a cramped 50- seat jet will pay extra for a flight experience closer to what they get on a mainline jet. The addition could help airlines turn a profit on flights that have generally been a loss-leader feeding traffic into long-haul flights, although rising fuel prices could complicate the plan.

Airlines that recently went through bankruptcy — Delta, United and Northwest — are freest to add such jets because of relaxed restrictions in their pilot contracts.

Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to fly 77 dual-class regional jets by the end of 2008, and United regional partners fly about 115 70-seat jets with coach, first-class and an Economy Plus seat with extra legroom.

Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said business customers have been asking for the regional first-class seats for years. The aim with the new jets is “to make it all more seamless and more like the mainline jet experience,” she said.

Northwest Airlines Corp. is adding 72 new 76-seat airliners through next year. Each plane includes a dozen first-class seats, and the cabin is roomier than on Northwest’s other regional jets.

First-class seats on Northwest’s new jets will include the same level of meal service as on regular flights.

US Airways is using larger regional jets in the Richmond Charlotte, N.C., market, and more airlines could follow suit, said Troy Bell, spokesman for Richmond International Airport. About 55 percent of airport passengers are business travelers.

“We’re seeing the average number of seats per departure increase,” he said. The current per plane average is 74 seats, compared with 69 seats per plane last July, he said.

Some airlines are adding business class to regional service, such as some United service between Richmond and Washington-Dulles International Airport.

With some regional jets covering longer distances, passengers are spending two hours or more on board those planes – making a first- class seat more desirable.

“As other carriers like Northwest and Delta and United roll out regional equipment that offers two-class configurations, that will turn out to be a competitive advantage for them,” said Darin Lee, senior managing economist at aviation consultancy LECG in Cambridge, Mass.

Using 76-seat jets on routes that had been flown by 50-seaters can turn around an unprofitable route, said aviation consultant Doug Abbey of The Velocity Group in Washington. For instance, passengers on Northwest’s regional jet flight between Fargo and Minneapolis pay $303 to go round trip in coach, but $981 to fly first class. Generally, many regional routes have lost money on their own but make money for the airline by feeding passengers into their hubs.

Until recently, pilot contracts at most major airlines put tight limits on how many small jets they could fly, because pay for those jets was less than for larger jets.

But in bankruptcy, Northwest, Delta, and UAL Corp.’s United won concessions from pilots expanding the number of jets they can fly in the 70-seat range.

Meanwhile, feeder airline American Eagle for AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the nation’s largest carrier, flies just 25 jets with 70 seats, none of them first class. It could fly 25 more but has chosen not to. The contract is even stricter at Continental Airlines Inc., allowing no regional jets with more than 50 seats unless they’re flown by higher-paid mainline pilots. It plans to add 74-seat propeller-driven planes to be flown by a feeder carrier but those planes also won’t have first-class seats.

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Quick take

Remade airlines seek edge with roomier regional jets.

What’s new: Delta, United and Northwest airlines are adding regional jets with first-class seats that make the flying experience more like that on a mainline jet.

Is it a moneymaker?: Maybe. Margins could be higher, but the cost to flyers can be higher, too.

Why now?: Delta, United and Northwest each used bankruptcy in recent years to expand the number of small jets allowed by union contracts with pilots.

Staff writer Chip Jones and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO

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