Approaching the runway at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Photo by Barb DeLollis.

Approaching the runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Photo by Barb DeLollis.

“There are plenty of reasons to hate 50-seat regional jets.”

The above sentence comes from a USA TODAY story – published in 2006 – about how United Airlines was trying to reduce its reliance on 50-seat regional jets.

Today, the company’s still at it, according to today’s piece by Crain’s Chicago Business headlined, “United’s move to drop small jets will have a big impact at O’Hare.” And, given business travelers’ dislike for the small jets with their limited headroom and small overhead bins, I wanted to bring the Crain’s story to your attention.

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Last month’s announcement from United Continental Holdings to shed more than 130, 50-seat regional jets from its system is going to have a major impact on flying out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the story says.

At Chicago O’Hare, the 50-seat regional jet accounts for 51% of the daily domestic departures with most run by United, according to Crain’s story, which cites OAG airline schedule data.

In contrast, the 50-seat regional jets make up only 22% of the Atlanta airport’s daily domestic departures.

The longtime trend to move away from 50-seat regional jets involves business travelers’ dislike for them, but also includes economics and a pilot shortage, Crain’s tells us.

“The 50-seat aircraft is still a very important part of our route network,” Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman, told Crain’s. “But we’ve admitted we’re too reliant on them.”

Readers: What’s your most memorable RJ experience?