Good afternoon from Regina, Saskatchewan!
My name is Alex, and welcome to this trip report.
Today, I’m making a very quick connection here onwards to Montreal, on board this Air
Canada Express Mitsubishi CRJ-900.
Now that name alone may sound a bit peculiar, and it doesn’t feel entirely right - but
yes, this is another Bombardier aircraft that’s had its name changed.
Essentially, this name swap was part of Bombardier’s continued selling-off of all of their commercial
aircraft programs, like the CSeries to Airbus, and the Q400 to De Havilland Canada.
As such, in June of 2020, they closed a deal to sell the Canadair Regional Jet program
to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Under this deal, Mitsubishi would take on the maintenance, engineering, and sales activities
for the CRJ.
Although Mitsubishi themselves only call it the “CRJ Series”, and that the existing
aircraft are technically still Bombardiers, most airlines now call the various CRJ models
Mitsubishis.
In any case, it’s still taking some getting used to, and if you ask this question of what
to call the airplane to some Canadian aviation enthusiasts, you may get some… interesting
replies.
This odd connection in Regina was part of a silly Aeroplan itinerary from Calgary to
Montreal, where the first leg was delayed for a bunch of different reasons.
I only made this connection because the captain of this flight was positioning here on the
Calgary to Regina flight, and so this one couldn’t exactly leave without them.
After spending maybe 30 seconds top in the terminal here in Regina, it was off to board
today’s CRJ, a 16-year old -900 model registered as Charlie Foxtrot Bravo Juliet Zulu.
As with all of Air Canada Express’ aircraft, this one is operated by Jazz Aviation.
Also, you know that feeling when you walk in late someplace and everyone turns around
to stare at you?
Yeahhh that’s what this felt like as I dragged my head along the ceiling to my seat for this
3 hour flight.
19A is an exit row seat, which I knew I would need.
The legroom here though is impressive, and the wing view from this row is decent enough.
Although being seemingly the last person to get on felt awkward enough, I was quickly
comforted by the fact that another 10 or 20 people from the previous flight got on right
after.
So here’s our departure from Regina, taking off from runway 31.
Our flight today would take us directly east over eastern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario
before arriving into Montreal, for a total flight time of around 3 hours.
3 hours is a pretty long time to spend on a CRJ, but I was very happy with my seat choice.
Being that this is an exit row, the tray tables in the seatback are locked, and you’ll find
it in the armrest instead.
In the seatback pocket, you’ll find the usual air sickness bag, and a safety card
for the CRJ-900.
Also handed out during boarding was Air Canada’s CleanCare kit, a little sealed bag with an
extra mask, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer.
Now, it’s at this point where Air Canada’s CRJ-900s really stand out.
A rare sight on a regional aircraft like this is the in-flight entertainment, which also
has a USB port for charging and the headphone jack located in the armrest.
Although this is Air Canada’s older system, it still works fine and feels ever-so-slightly
faster than some of the old Airbus ones.
It had a good selection of content, and of course the classic AC moving map.
One thing worth pointing out, if the screen was hard to see just then, it was even worse
filming it, since the exit row seats strangely have no window shades whatsoever.
It being broad daylight outside, that led some fellow passengers to do some… creative
problem-solving.
Another exit row quirk is that you don’t really have an armrest on the window side,
it’s more like a ledge for your elbow.
Air Canada Express’ CRJ-900s all seat 76 passengers, with one lavatory at the front,
and another one at the rear, which is… a little tight, to put it generously.
Up front are 12 Business Class seats in a 1-2 layout, and 64 Economy Class seats in
the standard 2-2 configuration.
For Economy Class though, it is worth pointing out that row 18, the one just before the first
exit row, doesn’t have a window.
About an hour into the flight, the cabin crew came around with some free drinks and snacks
available for purchase.
Unfortunately they didn’t have any meals available so I had to settle for these for
lunch.
As we neared Montreal, they came around a second time with some more drinks, and I went
for some orange juice.
All things considered, two drink services on a CRJ isn’t bad at all!
Here’s our arrival into Montreal, landing on runway 06R.
Well, that was Air Canada Express’ CRJ-900!
It’s been a while since I’ve flown one of these with AC, and I forgot how enjoyable
they are - in the right seat, that is.
I can’t think of any other airlines that offer physical in-flight entertainment on
a CRJ of all planes, so AC’s CRJs are pretty competitive.
There are a few with the new Atmosphere cabin that don’t have seatback screens yet, but
I do want to try one of those someday!
So, despite it being 3 hours on a CRJ, I did enjoy it, and I’d fly Air Canada Express’ Bombardier-
*ahem* Mitsubishi CRJ-900 again.
Thank you so much for watching as always, and I will see you next time!