170 Now; Maybe 380 More Later

Bombarider and Embraer, the world's #3 and #4 airliner-makers, are popping champagne corks this week, after the restructured US Airways, fresh out of Chapter 11, has confirmed an order for 50 and 70-passenger jets.

The order, for 170 planes, is divided roughly equally between the Canadians and the Brazilians; the 380-plane options also negotiated and announced, are split likewise.

One of the keys to US Airways' emergence plan was an all-new pilots' agreement, that allowed a lot more of the smaller jets in the fleet. Not only are the regional jets a closer match to the anticipated business of US Airways, their pilots get paid a lot less than the 200-PAX pilots. Cabin crews are smaller, as well.

Still, your airline's adding airplanes is a good thing, when you're a pilot who's spending too much time at home. Half the new regional-jet jobs, the airline says, will be filled by previously laid-off pilots.

The restructuring of US Airways' fleet was inevitable and necessary, said CEO David Siegel, noting that American, Delta, and Continental are already flying from two to four times as many smaller 'liners as US Airways.

US Airways, which already operates 84 regional jets, will use the new RJs primarily to replace older turboprops; some 737 and A319 routes may also see the CRJs and ERJs, which should boast higher load factors, lower operating costs, and (as newer machines invariably show) less maintenance downtime.

The order consists of 60, CRJ-200 (50-seat, top); 25, CRJ-700 (75-seat, shown in American livery); and 85 Embraer 170s (with 70 seats, middle). The 170-plane order is worth about $4.3 billion.

Having smaller machines available will also give the airline more flexibility in expanding, as well as maintaining, routes. The new jets will appear, first, in the guise of US Airways' ten partner-airlines. One such is MidAtlantic Airways, whose entire fleet will be comprised of the new regional jets -- and whose pilot complement will be made up entirely of laid-off US Airways big-jet pilots.

FMI: www.usairways.com