Regional Jets – Airplane Size Matters
March 8, 2010 by Travel Guide Greg
Filed under Travel Tips
How big is your plane and why should you care? If you end up flying on regional jets, you’ll soon discover that airplane size matters for how much you can take, and sometimes how long the flight is. When you’re booking and packing for that trip, it pays to know ahead of time what you can expect. Not all airports are served by big Boeings or Airbuses.
You might expect to find smaller aircraft used for flying into and out of smaller cities, but in the U.S., feeder airlines that use those smaller jets may even make up half of the air traffic at the country’s biggest airports. In Europe, Australia and Asia, smaller jets are being used more and more for mid-distance flights that don’t draw a lot of passengers. Airplane size matters to the bottom line of the airlines.
The seat pitch and width (the distance between seats from front to back for legroom and how much room you have from armrest to armrest) is about the same in regional jets as it is in the larger planes, but the overall impression may be that you have less room because the plane itself is smaller… the ceilings are lower, and the aisle is narrower, the walls curve in closer.
It all may feel more cramped. If this would be uncomfortable for you or you just don’t want to deal with it, check to see if there is a full size jet serving the city you are flying to.
If it’s a long flight, bring food. Regional jet flights may be as long as four hours. OK… you can’t get free food on most of the major airlines in the U.S. now either, but most of them sell meals or at least snacks. Some flights on the smaller planes may not have food available.
Most of your normal size carry-on luggage will not fit in the overheads on these smaller jets. In Europe, Australia and other places, you will simply have to check your bag.
In the U.S. you have two options… Which you choose determines where to find your luggage at the end of the flight. One option is to take your carry-on to the gate where it will be “gate checked”. If you choose this option, the bag will be unloaded at your destination and returned to you on the ground next to the plane or in the jetway. If you choose to check your bag at the ticket counter, your bag will come up in baggage claim.
Remember that most regional jets are narrower, so they only have two and two seating or one and two. Some of them are small enough that there is no exit row. When you are choosing your seat, check to see what 3D is… It might not be an aisle… it could be a window seat.
Find out what kind of aircraft you are flying on so if you go online to choose a seat, you’ll know what it is you really want… not what you thought you wanted. Bottom line is…. with regional jets, airplane size matters.
