Continental Express?

[KimandBrian]

I am going on a trip at the end of this month (not to WDW ) and I'm flying on Continental Express. Has anyone ever flown on one of their smaller jets? How was the service?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Personally I love their new little jets. Quiet, clean, and more comfortable and roomy than the seats in the big jets (at least it seems that way). That being said, you should know that before the little jets came in, Continental Express only had the prop ATRs in our airport. So anything was a big improvement!

 

[KimandBrian]

Thank you for the reply. After reading your comment, I am excited to fly this smaller plane now. I am looking forward to those bigger seats, too.

 

[ncligs]

We have flown on Continental Express a few times. They were very efficient and on time.

 

[skeezixspud]

... if you are not short and/or thin, the Embraers can be kind of claustrophobia-inducing. Also, carry-on space is SEVERELY limited! (Overhead bins are only on one side, and they are small.)
Personally, I found that the experience was sort of like being inside a very large flying fountain pen.

For some reason, probably having to do with the way the systems are mounted in the fuselage, the aisle slopes downward toward the front of the plane, like in a Greyhound bus. The first 10 rows or so are actually raised above the aisle, the front seats are about 6 inches higher. I'm 5'4" and on most normal narrow-body jets I can just barely stand up from my seat with my neck bent a little; no way could I stand at all on the Embraer, except in the aisle. We were sitting near the front, and getting into the seat was like getting into a car, step up and bend down simultaneously. (Did I mention that I had a child's safety seat to install? That was an interesting challenge.) The inward curve of the fuselage at shoulder height is fairly severe, if you have wide shoulders and are sitting against the wall, you may feel pretty crowded.

The plane seats two on the right side of the aisle and one on the left side. There is one lavatory at the back of the plane, directly opposite the very tiny galley, which holds a half-size drink cart. There is one flight attendant, who spends a lot of time running up and down the aisle. They do have good little cookies on board, though, but you have to ask for them, they usually don't have enough to give out to everyone.

We got on in St. Louis and off at Newark. At Newark, they parked the planes in a side area near the runway, loaded us onto a bus, drove us out to the plane, and we walked up the steps to board. It was something of a hassle, and I think it may have been a temporary situation because of airport construction. Still, if I were disabled, I would ask about the boarding gate situation before signing up for one of these flights.

 

[keithomas]

I don't claim to be the foremost expert on them...but I have flown on one, and one of my really good friends is a First Officer for Continental Express on one of these jets. I personally love the planes. They are quiet, fast, and comfortable (for me). I have flown many times with my friend who flies for them (in everything from Cessna's to two-seat acrobatic planes doing aerobatics). He claims everyone he has flown with there is at least as good a pilot as he is, and to me that means A LOT, as this guy is VERY GOOD.

I will agree that if you are really tall (over about 6' 2") the cabin will probably feel a bit "short" to you. As for the size/weight thing....I don't know, but I'm 5'8" and weigh about 200lbs and have no problems at all.

 

[KimandBrian]

Thanks for the information! I am 6' tall so maybe the cabin will seem small, but it sounds nice otherwise.