Am I the only one who doesn't like CRJs?

[Miss Jasmine]

I am curious if I am the only person here who doesn't like flying on CRJs? I get creeped out because of claustraphobia issues, but I am okay on a narrowbody or widebody jetliner. Just CRJs creep me out. I guess also the fact that weight has to be so carefully distributed makes me worry as well. This is bad for me as nearly half the flights from my local airport are CRJs. UGH.

Also I hate the concourse in Atlanta for CRJs. I feel like I am in a Greyhound station.

 

[bavaria]

nope, I hate them too - I will drive up to 5 hours out of my way to avoid a CRJ. Although the new CRJ -700 is not supposed to be as bad.....

I recently took my first CRJ flight in about 3 years - it was a 40 min flight which was at my upper limit.

There are some CRJ flights pushing 4 hours out there

 

[DebbieB]

I don't like the 50 seat CRJ's (Canadair). USAirways has a 72 seat Embraer 170 that is really nice. It is bigger, you can even take rollaboards on. The seats are 2 x 2, with 18 rows.

 

[CleveRocks]

I LOVE the 50 seater CRJs. Much shorter times for boarding, deplaning, and baggage claim.

 

[NCRedding]

I love the CRJs, but I am not a huge fan of the smaller Embraer--the one seat on one side, two on the other type.

 

[bavaria]

Now, Dash 8's are the worst - they are truly scary. I took one shortly after 9/11 - a 45 min flight became 2 hours due to turbulence over the Great Lakes. I was trying to keep the flight attendant calm as she sat across from me in the jump seat - and believe me, I wasn't very calm myself!!!

 

[DebbieB]

I love the CRJs, but I am not a huge fan of the smaller Embraer--the one seat on one side, two on the other type.

I don't like those either, over on flyertalk they call them the "barbie jet".

One think I don't like about CRJ's is you have to lean down to look out the window. Plus those narrow steps are hard to walk up and down. Some airports use jetways with them, some not.

 

[bicker]

I love both the CRJs and the Dash-8. Both are really fine flying aircraft, much more stable and smooth than their contemporaries. And I know when flying either, I'm flying somewhere that wouldn't have airline service at all if these aircraft didn't exist.

 

[ducklite]

I don't mind the CRJ's or Embrair's, but I also am not a fan of the Dash.

That said, I don't like doing longer flights on any of them, they aren't as comfortable.

Anne

 

[safetymom]

I was on a Dash 8 when one of the engines exploded. It wasn't nice trying to stay up in the air on one engine. Also a little scary to come in for a landing with the runway lined with ambulances and fire trucks. I try not to fly them anymore.

The flight attendant was useless. She was more scared than the rest of us.

 

[bicker]

That doesn't happen every day.

And the Dash-8 is among the safest airlines in aviation history.

 

[ducklite]

I was on a Dash 8 when one of the engines exploded. It wasn't nice trying to stay up in the air on one engine. Also a little scary to come in for a landing with the runway lined with ambulances and fire trucks. I try not to fly them anymore.

The flight attendant was useless. She was more scared than the rest of us.

I was on a United 737 that had to make an emergency landing due to a fuel situation, scarey, scarey! Due to the way they managed the situation, I never flew them again. They told me that I would have to either spend the night on my own dime, or find my own way to my destination! I understand that stuff happens, but they handled it very poorly. I wasn't the only one on that plane that felt Untied blew it as far as customer service went. When I found a US Air flight, United wouldn't endorse my ticket over. I was sent back and forth across Dulles about six times to talke to different people before a US Airways supervisor took it upon himself to authorize it and personally walked me onto a flight I held no boarding pass for.

Anne

 

[safetymom]

They handled my situation badly also. I complained to US Airways and the head of customer service responded when I returned home. She called me and of course told me that things like that don't happen often. She did make it right though but I shouldn't have had to contact customer service.

 

[bicker]

I think in such circumstances people often feel service providers should have done something for them other than what they did, but that doesn't necessarily imply that the service provider did anything out of the ordinary. There are great stories about how Airline XXX has provided wonderful service in tough situations like that, and horrific stories about how Airline YYY provided worse service in such a situation to its passengers. Generally, all the major airlines treat customers roughly the same, so getting yourself wrapped up into an ever worse spiral of problems because of your reaction is counter-productive.

 

[boBQuincy]

I don't mind the CRJs and the other mini-jets, they are fast, climb quickly, and I fit in the seats ok. The alternative is prop planes, and I will drive a few hours before I would take them.

The mini-jet seat cushions seem very thin so I carry a small inflatable seat pad (Therm-a-Rest).

 

[snowbunny]

Don't like them either. Yes I know their safety records are comparable to larger jets', the 737 has probably had more safety issues. I simply hate bouncing around in the sky and that's what happens when you hit any choppy air in a smaller plane.

 

[ducklite]

I think in such circumstances people often feel service providers should have done something for them other than what they did, but that doesn't necessarily imply that the service provider did anything out of the ordinary. There are great stories about how Airline XXX has provided wonderful service in tough situations like that, and horrific stories about how Airline YYY provided worse service in such a situation to its passengers. Generally, all the major airlines treat customers roughly the same, so getting yourself wrapped up into an ever worse spiral of problems because of your reaction is counter-productive.

When a carrier has a mechanical problem that causes an emergency landing, then refuses to do ANYTHING to help the passengers stranded at the airport except offer a flight the next day, they dropped the ball. Period. They weren't even offering a phone call home. Nothing! The thing that finally made me resolve to never fly them again was when they wouldn't endorse my ticket to US Airways who was happy to accomodate me, and sent me here , there, and everywhere to talk to various people to get it done. That was inexcusable!

That all happened in 1990, and I haven't flown them since, and never will again, even when they've had a substantially lower fare.

Anne

 

[bicker]

When a carrier has a mechanical problem that causes an emergency landing, then refuses to do ANYTHING to help the passengers stranded at the airport except offer a flight the next day, they dropped the ball. Period.

No. Not "Period." I think that's the fundamental problem: We passengers don't get to unilaterally impose requirements on the transaction. As long as we get to rape the airlines with all these low fares, they get to rape us with low levels of service.

No major airline agrees to be responsible for passengers stranded at an airport due to weather or mechanical problems, unless you're stranded at the connection point in a connection itinerary. There is no way to be guaranteed that level of service (other than moving to another reality) because no airline is willing to offer that service.

What THIS airline did to you THIS time is something ANOTHER airline did to someone else SOME OTHER time, and, with minor exception, any major airline you decide to fly instead is as likely as not to do it to you should the same circumstances face them.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I do agree that the enplaning and deplaning is great. I think my issues have more to do with mental discomfort than physical discomfort. It doesn't help that I sometimes travel with a DH who has even worse claustrophic issues.

I also know that if it wasn't for CRJs many non-hub and small hub airports would be without commercial service.

 

[ducklite]

No. Not "Period." I think that's the fundamental problem: We passengers don't get to unilaterally impose requirements on the transaction. As long as we get to rape the airlines with all these low fares, they get to rape us with low levels of service.

No major airline agrees to be responsible for passengers stranded at an airport due to weather or mechanical problems, unless you're stranded at the connection point in a connection itinerary.

Which I was! They basically wanted to strand me for 16 hours due to their inability to properly calculate how much fuel we needed to make the flight. I was headed to Syracuse, and the emergency landing in Richmond then subsequent plane change that took us to Dulles caused me to miss my flight to Syracuse from Dulles. So there I was in my connecting city at 6:00 pm, no more Untied flights that night, the next was 10 am the next morning.

Their error, and they wouldn't sign my ticket over, let me make a phone call, nothing. What's wrong with that picture? They made an error that terribly inconvenienced everyone, and did nothing to help stranded passengers who were stranded due to their error. This wasn't weather. It was their error.

BTW--I was on a full unrestricted coach fare as my company had bought the ticket last minute.

Anne