Here
is an analyst's report on profits per plane for the RJ fleets
Here is an excerpt;
"Among legacies, UAL highest profits per plane, AMR lowest
Among the legacy carriers, United records the highest profits per regional jet aircraft in our analysis, driven by higher utilization (defined as seat-miles per plane). American makes the greatest losses per RJ owing to higher costs and greater scope restrictions. Delta makes above average profits per plane on its mainline fleet, but consistently loses money on its RJ fleet. We think Delta simply operates too many RJs, and rationalization of its RJ fleet should boost Delta's returns."
Another item of note is that as fuel costs rise, the use of fifty seat RJ's becomes much more expensive due to the higher fuel per seat of this fleet.
It is an interesting read, is thirteen pages long, and provides insight into the feeder aspect of the industry.
