US Airways yesterday announced it would add first-class seating and service on 110 US Airways Express regional jets operated by Republic Airways, Mesa Air Group and PSA. Plans call for the airline to install first-class seating on Embraer 170s and 175s, along with Bombardier CRJ700s and CRJ900s, beginning in October with the E175 fleet. It expects to finish outfitting the three remaining fleet types by the end of next January.
All the types but the CRJ900 will offer 37 inches of seat pitch, in the two-by-one configuration, while the big Bombardier RJs will offer 38 inches. Cabin-class seats will all offer 31 inches of pitch and remain four abreast. Once it completes the project, US Airways will offer the highest percentage of daily departures with a first-class cabin among the four major U.S. network carriers, according to the airline. Delta, American and United all already offer first-class seating in a portion of their regional jet fleets.
