The article was researched and written on November 16th. On this specific day, there are 1,301 US flights using 50-seat regional jets. They make up one in every 16 US flights for airlines throughout the country. Unfortunately according to statistics from previous years, things would have been very different ten years ago. On a comparable day in 2012, there were 5,381 US flights using these planes – a fifth of all US air traffic. Many smaller RJs have been retired at that time.

Single-class, 50-seaters:

In recent years, US airlines have moved away from CRJs 100s/200s and Embraer 140/145s; single-class, 50-seat planes. Instead, they’ve favored much more premium and larger alternatives with better economics. This primarily deals with three-class CRJ-550s, CRJ-700s, and Embraer 170s/175s.

The shift to more planes might leave small communities without the capacity they need. However, it will allow wider connectivity to more people and give a wider range of travel options for everyone. This will benefit the smaller communities that still have enough demand and are willing to pay for premium products.