I recently had the chance to explore United’s new Bombardier CRJ-550, a 50-seat jet that is undoubtedly one of the roomiest and most innovate regional jets in the sky.
United CRJ-550 Layout
United has taken a 76-seat regional jet and turned it into a 50-seat regional jet by including a (proportionally) large first class cabin, extra legroom economy seats, and plenty of room to store full-size carry-on baggage.
The configuration includes:
- 10 seats in United First
- 20 seats in United EconomyPlus
- 20 seats in United Economy
In first class, a self-serve refreshment area offers snacks and drinks. The area is probably not necessary, but since only one flight attendant will be onboard and the aircraft will operate short-haul routes, it is a nice feature if passengers want additional snacks or beverages in-flight.
United CRJ-550 Routes
United will fly the CRJ-550 from Chicago to the following destinations:
- Allentown, Pennsylvania (ABE)
- Bentonville, Arkansas (XNA)
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG)
- Columbus, Ohio (CMH)
- Des Moines, Iowa (DSM)
- Grand Rapids, Michigan (GRR)
- Greensboro, North Carolina (GSO)
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT)
- Indianapolis, Indiana (IND)
- Madison, Wisconsin (MSN)
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OKC)
- Richmond, Virginia (RIC)
- St. Louis, Missouri (STL)
- Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL)
Next year, the aircraft will operate out of Newark (EWR) as well, including a new hourly shuttle between Newark and Washington National (DCA).
> Read More: United’s New Domestic & International “Shuttle” Service
United CRJ-550 Pictures
When I was in Chicago recently, I had a chance to explore the new CRJ-550 for myself. The following pictures are all taken by me:
CRJ-500 Aircraft
CRJ-500 United First
CRJ-500 Luggage Storage
CRJ-500 United Economy Plus
CRJ-500 United Economy
CRJ-500 Lavatory
CRJ-500 Flight Deck + Crew
CONCLUSION
Admittedly, I still prefer Embraer regional jets the new CRJ-500. That said, as someone who often gets stuck on CRJ-200s, I cannot underscore what a vast improvement this configuration is over United’s other 50-seat regional jets.
> Read More: Bombardier CRJ 550 – A New Regional Jet Experience On United
Are those luggage “cabinets” just for first class?
No, although they get first dibs.
…after GS, 1K, Military, UM, families, and disabled. So, they probably won’t get first dibs. :-p
Seriously, though, how many standard rollaboards can those cabinets fit? It looks like the top shelf might be able to handle 4, with 2 wheels first side-by-side and stacked 2 high. Maybe the bottom shelf can handle the same number, or slightly more if they’re all upright?
Matt – no comment on the hubris of using the Premium Plus purple for E+ here, for identically sized seats as regular Economy?
I think this is a great way to keep seat poachers out. But it is certainly the same seat.
Why the preference for Embraer planes?
Any insight into why these are being operated primarily in the eastern half of the US? Does the business model just not work as well here Out West? I’m curious about them, but given the routes they’ll be serving, it seems unlikely that I’ll have the pleasure of boarding a United CRJ-550 anytime soon.
Then again, travel has a way of being unpredictable; so who knows …
Walmart execs going to Arkansas
So about the booze, I understand that is not self serve. So did the FA do PDBs and a bev service in the air before serving coach? Did they then loop back for another round? I presume they did not say “only bother me if you need a real drink.” Was F full?
It’s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out long term. The 550 only exists because of scope restrictions that United very much wants relaxed. The problem of course is that the pilots are very firmly opposed to this so United has little leverage at the moment. United clearly sees a role for this airplane and hopefully it will work but it’s undeniably an experiment.
I’m scheduled for 2 flights with this aircraft in December (ORD-DSM) so very much looking forward to the experience. Thanks for the preview Matthew.
Great shots of the plane, especially appreciate the cockpit views. My 15 year old wants to fly, he relishes any views up front he can het!
So…United’s colors have historically been red & blue. Now they’ve introduced purple. And Delta’s colors have historically been red & blue. And now they’ve introduced purple. Hmmm….
I could be wrong, but I don’t recall red ever being a part of United’s color scheme in the past 20+ years that I’ve been flying with them.
OK, I stand corrected: https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/United_Airlines?file=United_Airlines.svg
But, geez, that seems like an eternity ago!!!
😉
Last week I flew from ORD-XNA. Here are some observations. I sat in first class seat 3A.
Drinks & Snacks: After take-off the FA took drink orders and then passed around the snack basket. There were no snacks set up in the self-serve area. Another pax walked up to the self-serve snack area and wondered why it was empty. After the FA served first class, she got the trolley and started serving the rest of the plane. All seemed so rushed. I would have liked a refill on my Coke.
Bin space: In first class the overhead bins are bigger on the 2-seat side. However, these bins can only hold a small rollaboard. My rollaboard could not fit and thus got stored in the luggage cubby behind first class. I think the other UA barbie’s have larger overhead bins as my somewhat standard rollaboard has no issues in these other barbies.
I give UA credit for trying here. Yes, I would fly this barbie again … even though I do my best to avoid all barbies.
First photo…the babe in 6″ spike heels posing for photos out on the tarmac with the baggage handler doing the photoshoot…you got a story there?
That was a flight attendant doing some PR shots for United.
I wish United would have stepped up and put IFE into every seat back like Air Canada has on their regional planes. I refuse to watch a movie on a my iPhone. By not putting screens into planes, United is acting like a Low Cost Carrier. Yes, it saves money for them – installation, equipment, and weight… but it’s still the behavior of a Low Cost Carrier. Delta does both – has IFE and “bring your own screen.”
I’m tired of not having air service into/out of CIC. I wish UAL would restore service for Skywest – even with a regular configuration of the CRJ. I’ll make my knees hold on for the 1 1/2 hour flight from LAX. I know, I know, UAL never served Chico from LAX, only SFO – but I can only wish. I’m tired of driving from RDD down to CIC, but it’s better than the drive from SMF to CIC and traveling through the ticket towns of Yuba City and Live Oak!
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
+1 to all that! My mother-in-law and brother-in-law live in Chico, California. While the 8-hour ride can be nice, I really miss the option of flying to CIC. And CIC wants service. Whichever carrier is so bold as to reestablish that service needs to go CIC-LAX; CIC-SFO just wasn’t working. Wouldn’t it be great to take a spanking new CRJ-550 between CIC and LAX?!!? Now if only they can make the required improvements at CIC to support that service …
I have stores in Chico – and the Chamber reached out to my stores (me) inquiring if I would consider ponying up money to support some sort of guarantee for the airline(s) to start scheduled service. Supposedly, studies done by the City of Chico’s aviation department and Cal State Chico show that CIC-LAX would be the most frequently traveled route, followed by CIC-SNA and then CIC-SAN.
I’m not sure of the methodology that was used to gather the finite numbers of passengers flying those potential routes – probably from the hotels and restaurants in Chico that were contacted by the city or Cal State to provide secondary credit card information – such as the billing zip code from the card that was used for the transaction(s) to determine where potential travel was originating from.
I caution though that the data collected may be skewed because of the large amount of students attending Chico State, and from what I have been led to believe, a majority of the students are from southern California.
From my credit card processor, I receive billing zip code information and am further able to distinguish between debit and actual credit cards – and most business travelers are more than likely going to use a credit card for their expenditures, unlike students who primarily use a debit card.
Also, the billing zip code can be off for the purposes of this study. If it’s a corporate card billed directly to the company’s address and not the cardholder themselves – cardholder lives in Irvine, but his employer has the bill sent to corporate accounting in Houston, and as a merchant, all I receive is the billing zip code. That’s the same info the people conducting the study in Chico would see as well.
My wish? Alaska through Horizon offer SAN/LAX-CIC-SEA service operating 2 times a day, at least 4 times week, and adding extra sections during the time of school breaks to account for additional travel by students. I’m sure that any airline offering service at Chico will want a revenue guarantee.
So for now, I make what is basically a 2 1/2 day trip from LAX to RDD, and then drive back and forth from Chico. I wish UAL had more than 1 nonstop LAX-RDD, but’s better than not having the service at all.
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
Just flew from ORD-TUL ON THIS 550
Wasn’t sure what all the hoop la is about flight was delayed gate was changed due to one of the new 550 planes stuck at our gate throwing up GPS errors.