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October 2006 |
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CRJ900 NOW IN SERVICE WITH CITYLINEBy Karl SchwarzSince achieving certification in September 2002, Bombardier's longest regional jet had been selling somewhat sluggishly. But over the last few months demand for the CRJ900 has picked up noticeably. James Dailly, Bombardier's Senior Vice President, Sales, did not beat about the bush. “Today's high fuel prices call for aircraft with low operating costs, and in that area we are six to seven percent better than an Embraer 175.” Evidently this argument won the day with Lufthansa CityLine, whose fleet strategy according to Managing Director Dr. Thomas Dräger is to “soften the competitive pressure through the use of larger aircraft.” 
At the same time one of the central considerations behind CityLine's choice of the CRJ900 in December 2005 was doubtless the advantages of fleet standardisation. “As we already operate the CRJ200 and CRJ700, the amount of conversion training that our cockpit crew need is minimal. Two takeoffs and landings in the real aircraft are sufficient to familiarise oneself with the somewhat higher position of the cockpit shortly before touch-down due to the longer fuselage,” explains chief pilot Uwe Kirchgässner. The ground handling equipment is the same as well, so that routes with fluctuating numbers of passengers can be served with aircraft of different lengths. The cabin of the CRJ900 is almost 22 metres long, making it longer than an Airbus A318. CityLine has installed 84 seats, giving a very comfortable seat pitch. A 1.89m aisle height and bigger windows give the aircraft a clear advantage over the original model, the CRJ100/200, which entered into service in November 1992. The cabin interior has already been fitted out in the new cabin design of Lufthansa's European fleet. A single standard throughout makes sense since, as part of the Lufthansa Regional network, Lufthansa CityLine GmbH flies almost entirely on behalf of its parent company. Typical services flown by the regional jets are feeder services to the hubs of Frankfurt and Munich and new routes being added for the first time, such as flights to Dnepropetrovsk or Donetsk. With its maximum take-off weight raised to 38,330kg, the CRJ900 LR offers impressive ranges up to 3,660km. The airline plans to station all the new aircraft to be delivered by November in Munich, from where half the CityLine fleet already flies. The first destinations to be flown by the new member of the Lufthansa regional fleet are Brussels, Lyons, Münster/Osnabrück, Nice, Oslo and Geneva. The company is fortunate in that it does not have to worry about marketing or ticket sales. Lufthansa decides how the planes will be deployed and pays CityLine for the block hours flown according to a complex formula made up from a combination of fixed and variable elements. Naturally the aim is to keep costs as low as possible, hence “strict cost management” in administration and purchasing, and the introduction of “innovative tools for making working hours more flexible” are ongoing concerns of management in the headquarters at Cologne/Bonn airport. As far as the fleet is concerned, over the next few years it will be reduced through the gradual sale of at least 20 of the present 40 or so CRJ200's. As well as 20 CRJ700's and the 12 CRJ900s, a further 18 Avro RJ 85's will remain in service until 2012. Evidently a completely new regional jet with around 100 seats is not a priority for Lufthansa at present, given its other investment programmes. From page 40 of FLUG REVUE 10/2006
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