Bin-tastic Bombardier

A new airliner which is not a Boeing or a ‘Bus might help ease carry-on conditions for travelers in a few years:

The plane (Bombardier C Series) will also be very comfortable as a passenger. Seats will be in a 2-3 across configuration and each seat will be about a half inch wider than on an Airbus and more than an inch wider than a 737. The overhead bins will be big enough to accommodate roller bags for 90% of the passengers onboard, which is ample room. - Cranky Flier

Update on May 26, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

This begs the question: How does this plane’s bin space compare to current planes? This is hard to say since there are multiple versions and configurations of each common airliner. Which planes pose the most trouble for you as a carry-on traveler? Which airlines?

Comments

[topometropolis]

I've flown on some of Air Canada Jazz's CRJ-705s (also made by Bombardier), and was impressed by the overall comfort and overhead bin space. In particular, I could put a standard sized roller-board suitcase into the overhead bin, which isn't the case on any other RJ. Legroom was excellent, I think because they don't quite pack the cabin in order to avoid hitting the magic number that would require another flight attendant.

[topometropolis]

For me, and unfortunately I fly them on most trips, the most inconvenient plane for carry-ons is the Embraer RJ-145. The overall bins are just tiny; bigger soft-sided bags like the Aeronaut or Patagonia MLC won't fit, and anything less flexible needs to have a cross section of something like 6 in x 13 in. If you take the single seat side of the plane, the underseat storage is also miniscule and even standard "personal items" may not fit. Of course, you can gate check larger items, but that slows you down if you're connecting and there's a small chance (apparently) that something gets lost (I've never had a problem, but sometimes the gate staff warns you to remove medicines, etc., before handing over your bag).

Actually, if anyone knows a good bag that will fit under the "A" seat on a RJ-145, I'd be interested in hearing about it...

[Alan Birnbaum]

My recent trip to Heathrow and back via DFW involved two legs on MD80's. Many of these have been modified to increased the BIN DEPTH, which helps. Even roller bags fit transversely on the starboard side. The B777 we had for our return from LHR to DFW does well for bin space, but to access it helps to be TALL. I ended up helping two ladies with their bags (make that three, including my wife.)

The least satisfactory leg was our outbound transatlantic flight on a B767-300, whose bins are not as deep. Clearly it would be optimal to have ALL bins at least 23 inches deep, so that the typical 45 linear inch carry-on can be loaded transversely. The problem with the first two iterations of the 767 is that they were introduced in 1982 and 1986, the introduction of the first wheeled carry-on from Travelpro not being until about 1989.

I agree that the WORST currently is the Embraer ER-145. I just barely fit my lightly loaded Air Boss into its starboard bin last February. Otherwise that bin is best suited for a beach bag full of those Brazilian bikinis, which have a bit less bulk than my clothes!

Beyond that the (older) CRJ series of Bombardier jets, the -200, -500, -700, etc., will take a carry-on bag ONLY longitudinally, and at that, very few wheeled bags fit, though of course my Air Boss finds their bins a cozy spot for a two hour nap. Obviously, per the lead to this thread, the Bombardier folks now realize that is an issue. "Gate check," for which the airline makes nothing (most of the time), is NOT a financially efficient handling of luggage.

I expect that including from other manufacturers, future airliner crossections will be minimally 2-3 across to allow the same bin configuration, which in turn means that the smallest regional jet will be 20 rows long, holding at least 95 to 100 passengers. Given the increasingly crowded air lanes, and the better fuel efficiency of larger engines, that's not a bad thing.

[Alan Birnbaum]

Manufacturer's discussion of the CRJ-705; carry-on bags fit longitudinally:

http://www.crj.bombardier.com/CRJ/en/interior.jsp?langId=en&crjId=705

then their "NextGen" somewhat improved, also 2+2 seating:

http://www.crj.bombardier.com/CRJ/en/NextGen/index.html

but even better will be their C-series, as Brad indicates, this intended as a 100 to 149 passenger airliner, the bins capable of taking bags even a bit larger than the standard carry-on! It should even be possible to handle that nice ultra-light 24" suitcase I bought my wife for Christmas!

http://www.nowisthefuture.com/En/

For my Canadian dollar, they can start using the C's for service in and out of Fresno Air Terminal any old time! And, NICE website, good illustration of the questions raised.

[DannH]

Hummm... "Seats will be in a 2-3 across configuration". How long before someone (Ryan Air??) decides this would work in a 3-3 configuration. You know some airline exec somewhere is looking into it.

[Alan Birnbaum]

"How long before someone (Ryan Air??) decides this would work in a 3-3 configuration.?

Not too likely. The seats would have to be 15.5" wide, which I don't think will happen. More likely, if Ryannair purchased some, you could bet they'd go with the minimum pitch, 30 inches, probably non-reclining seats, etc. Anyway, we won't actually see any of these planes delivered until maybe 2013, but I expect that they will do very well. As far as I know, neither Boeing nor Airbus has anything announced likely to really compete in this sector.