United Airlines is introducing a new regional jet it calls the CRJ450 that it says will feel more like a private jet for first class travelers and bring a modern experience to an aircraft many travelers wryly call the “Devil’s Chariot.”
United’s New CRJ450 Promises A “Private Jet” Feel
United Airlines has announced a new regional aircraft, the CRJ450, which it describes as one of its most premium regional jets to date. Just as the CRJ550 represented a more premium configuration on the CRJ700, the CRJ450 will be a retrofit of CRJ200 aircraft.
The aircraft will be operated by SkyWest and will primarily connect smaller cities to United’s hubs in Denver and Chicago. By 2028, United expects to have more than 50 CRJ450s and nearly 120 CRJ550s in service.
A Different Take On Regional Flying
The CRJ-450 will seat 41 passengers and include:
- A 7-seat first class cabin
- A dedicated luggage closet instead of overhead bins in First
- Overhead bin space in Economy for rollaboards
- Starlink Wi-Fi for all passengers who join MileagePlus
The removal of overhead bins in the premium cabin is meant to create a more open, spacious feel. United is even describing the experience as “private jet-like.”
That may be going a bit too far, as the overall experience will still be constrained by:
- Limited cabin space (the CRJ-200 is a tiny aircraft)
- Limited galley space
- A single tiny lavatory in the rear of the aircraft
That doesn’t mean it won’t be a big improvement. But “private jet” may be pushing it a bit too far…
Still, this aircraft is loathed so much by frequent flyers it has earned the nickname “Devil’s Chariot” so this retrofit will be a big upgrade, even without seatback screens or power outlets.
CONCLUSION
United has been steadily upgrading its regional fleet, starting with the CRJ550. The CRJ450 continues that trend, offering a more premium experience while maintaining connectivity to smaller markets. The introduction of a first class cabin will be welcome as will larger overhead bins in economy class and Starlink internet for everyone onboard.
Calling it a “private jet” experience may be a stretch, but it reflects United’s broader strategy to make every part of the journey feel more premium, even on the smallest aircraft.
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Right… All of those private jets with seats that look like beach chairs from the 80s…
Bah! And here I thought they were trying to look like the certain flavors of the NJ-style salt-water taffy from EWR Terminal A’s UnitedClub…
While this is better than the current CRJ-200, wouldn’t it have made sense to retrofit more CRJ-700s?
It’s interesting indeed that the CRJ200 (CRJ450) will become more premium than the CRJ700.
I think is has to do with availably of aircraft. The CR550’s have split ownership between UA and Skywest. and I don’t think there are that many available The CRJ’s are all owned, and paid off, by Skywest which has several dozen parked so the capital cost is $0.
Love the concept of first class having no bins, but that closet only has space for 7 bags. What about the other 3 backpacks that will potentially need to be stored somewhere that the first row of seats would have
Let’s not forget to congratulate Bombardier Aviation!
The CRJ started out as a private jet, so the lav and galley can’t be worse.
you clearly got a pre-release on all of these aircraft announcements….
the CRJ450 doubles down on the dumbest idea in the US carrier fleet which is the CRJ550.
Let’s keep in mind that UA had the same provision in its pilot contract as DL that allowed them to add even more 76 passenger RJs IF they added a small mainline jet.
DL acquired the 717s from WN/FL and then added the A220-100s to double down on small mainline aircraft.
UA was more interested in outsourcing as much of its flying as it could so has the smallest large RJ fleet of the big 3 and also has the least efficient aircraft per seat mile in the CRJ550 – which will now be topped by the CRJ450.
For those that love to compare UA to DL, the CRJ 550/450 is just one of many reasons why UA will never reach DL’s level of profitability.
For all these Delta advantages (more “Premium”, MRO, refinery, better network, better people, etc, etc) why are they only 2-3 margin points ahead?
those 2-3 margin points translated to $1.5 billion more earnings in 2025 compared to UA which was the second most profitable airline. Let’s keep in mind that UA flew 10% more ASMs than DL so DL’s profit advantage is pretty significant.
No other US airline came close.
Since TK and the ME airlines have been closest to DL in profits on a global scale, it might be down to just DL and TK for 2026 and who knows how much longer. DL obviously pays its people much more than TK.
and remember that UA has a $1 billion labor cost advantage right now because of its multiple unsettled labor contracts.
It should be added that UA plans to convert the full fleet of CRJ200s to the CRJ450 design, totaling more than 70 aircraft. The ERJ145s will not be modified and will remain, for the time being, in the fleet as the airline’s only single-cabin aircraft, with 50 seats on board (and no inflight Wi-Fi).
If JSX is private, then I suppose this is too. I also guess the mini cabin in J on the CX A330s feels fairly private since there are only 2 rows. And compared to an all Y layout, BA’s new A380 config with 100+ J seats will seem private by comparison.
I think many of the smaller cities the 50 seaters fly to today simply do not have enough demand for a 50 seat jet. These are the SAAB 340+E135 cities of prior decades. Seems like we are backfilling the loss of E135s with these new “CRJ 450s”.
Thinking of the phaseout of the SAAB/E135, many of the 35 seat aircraft routes now had 50 seat aircraft, and the 50 seat routes now had 75 seat routes. Many flights had too many seats. So UA invented the CRJ550 to cut capacity on the 75 seaters, bringing them back to the 50 seat range. Now this CRJ450 is doing the same to the 50 seaters, bringing them back to the 40 range. If the aircraft are going to fly with empty seats most of the time, might as well reduce capacity, make them more premium, and try to monetize the extra space.
We are back where we started, except with J seats.
I truly think the US needs the 35-40 seat aircraft to keep service to small cities as sustainable and robust and economical as prior decades. Really props like the Dash 8 are fine for this purpose but US airlines are all averse to props it seems.
The props that Air Canada runs out of YTZ are great. They even have fast wifi and a decent in-flight product for short flights. I’d take a prop out of YTZ for 1h over a 787 out of YYZ for the same length of flight.
the economics of 40 and 50 seat aircraft don’t work at current pilot rates.
There have been proposals to allow 30 passenger aircraft to be used in airline – rather than just charter – service but those proposals have all died, so far as I know. The idea would have been to allow newer, less experienced pilots to fly those aircraft.
Pilots flying 40 and 50 passenger RJs make just about as much money as other RJ pilots – and the costs are just too high for that few number of seats.
SkyWest and others have plenty of 50 seat aircraft sitting around that they would like to put into service so UA is taking on the cost of refurbishing the cabins with low aircraft rental rates but high labor costs.
It is doubtful it makes economic sense but is part of UA’s testosterone driven perceived need for size at the expense of profits.
Whatever happened to the CRJ with the “self serve” snack bar for first passengers?
UGH. . .so a CRJ-200 has horrible economics as is now with even fewer passengers it gets worse. Glad AA is moving away from all 50 passenger craft by 2030. Just having the two class RJs makes much more sense. What a waste of $ and resources (aka fuel).
I just toured this aircraft…it’s still a CRJ-200, but feels better than before.
I’m no expert in this field for certain, but the economics can make great sense. You might fly this because you need to, i.e., there’s nothing in the pipeline to replace it. Or, you might fly it because the conversion cost of this is so much less than a replacement, as you can absorb lousy operating costs. DL has had great success buying older planes on the cheap despite their higher operating costs, e.g., the 717. Nobody wants the A338, but you’d see a lot of sales if Airbus dropped the purchase price to commensate for it higher per-seat-mile costs. Airbus, of course, has an order book that gives them no incentive to do so.
All of Skywest’s CRJ aircraft have no debt, completely owned. I think the lack of lease payments partially offsets the higher operating costs nowadays.
Also, sure a 70 seater has better unit economics on paper but the challenge is actually filling those seats. At this point I have to imagine if a destination could support 70 seats it would be on a E175/CRJ700/CRJ550. The better unit economics do not translate into reality.
the problem is that pilot costs do not fall proportionately to the number of seats that are removed.
SkyWest is happy to put the planes back in service because they get some cut above the cost of the crew – UA probably assumes responsibility for the cost of conversion and labor costs.
The question is whether there really is that much less demand between the CRJ550 and any potentially smaller aircraft and the answer is likely not; the only thing motivating UA to do this is because there are no more CRJ700s which they can convert to CRJ550s.
remember that AA and DL have far more small two cabin aircraft than UA; AA has way more 2 cabin large RJs while DL has more 2 cabin large RJs than UA and also has 140ish small mainline aircraft between the the 717 and A220-100
AA and DL just don’t need this type of gimmick
I certainly won’t be here promoting some superior unit economics of a CRJ200.
But even if UA operates the specific RJ segment at just breakeven, they are bringing more connecting customers to the other segments. They improve their network. Those customers are also not flying AA/DL and UA can make them sticky with their credit card, etc.
I don’t think in isolation the CRJ segment has to perform great. It just has to be there and not lose money.
united, constant talk about premium
meanwhile their lounges and meals are the worst in the industry
You clearly haven’t flown on/been in the lounges of AA.
I can see the fights right now. The seventh F pax boards, all seven bins are taken, and asks, “where’s my bin?”