Looking back...

I have to say, something dawned on me during a recent trip to a famous aviation museum. As I was admiring aircraft from eras gone by, it hit me. Let me throw some stats your way and see if you catch it.

DC2 - 14pax - 2 engines - 62ft long
DC3 - 32pax - 2 engines - 64ft long
307 - 33 pax - 4 engines - 74ft long
ERJ145 - 37pax - 2 engines - 93 ft long
CRJ200 - 50pax - 2 engines - 87 ft long
CRJ700 - 70pax - 2 engines - 106ft
ERJ175 - 76pax - 2 engines - 103ft

These old planes are quite large. Some of them 4 engined. Yet, they all carried about as much as regional jets do these days. That tells me two things...

Airlines are carrying more people while burning less fuel to do it. It also tells you passenger accommodations are getting smaller and smaller. Honestly, this isn't a shocker since the days that Juan Tripp announced that Pan Am would take a different direction than all other major carriers. Instead of flying the "well to do" at high prices, he offered to fly common folk for what they could afford to pay. This changed the very face of airline travel. However, I think even Juan Tripp wouldn't have thought that at least 25% of airline passengers would fly in sweatpants and flip flops.

It was quite a revelation to stand in front of the iconic 4 engined Boeing 307 and see that it carried fewer passengers than the little CRJ200. Then, I took a look at another piece of info comparing the cabin widths of these two aircraft.

CRJ200 - 8ft 4in
Boeing 307 - 12ft

Makes me wonder what would be said if passengers who where flying the 307 were to step into the future and see a CRJ200 pull up to there gate. Likely, they would be overcome with joy with such a sleek little futuristic jet. Then, they would step inside and look at the seating space. I'm thinking they might step back off at that point.