Delta Connection’s Single CRJ-200

The 50-seat CRJ-200, one of the most unanimously hated aircraft in the skies today, is still flying strong by SkyWest under the United Express brand, and Air Wisconsin operates a handful of them for American Eagle after the airline retired them during the pandemic and then decided to bring back the fleet.

A United Express CRJ-200 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

Delta is the only major U.S. airline that had retired the type from its network, or at least it was supposed to be. The airline retired the last of the type back on Dec. 1, 2023, with its final flight operating as an early morning departure out of Elko, Nev. to the airline’s hub in Salt Lake City.

Back in the Fall of 2023, the airline mandated that all scheduled routes under the Delta Connection brand must have a premium cabin. The CRJ-200s have a 50-seat single-class configuration.

For six months the airline didn’t operate a single CRJ-200 under its banner, then in late June 2024, a couple of eagle-eyed planespotters noticed a single CRJ-200 with the Delta Connection livery buzzing in and out of the airlines’ Detroit hub to Essential Air Service (EAS) airports in northern Michigan. This aircraft carried the registration N936EV.

Days later a second one was noticed on FlightRadar24 out of the airline’s Salt Lake City hub with the registration N506CA. This aircraft was one of the last CRJ-200s under the Delta brand back in the final days before ‘retirement’ in late November 2023. Between November 2023, and when it was put back into service, the aircraft was painted into the SkyWest livery.

A Delta CRJ-200, N506CA, in Cedar City, Utah in late November 2023 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

In June, a spokesperson from SkyWest told AirlineGeeks that the un-retired CRJ-200s would be used on an “as-needed basis” as the company works to keep up with summer travel demand. SkyWest also noted that the 50-seat aircraft would only be used for a few months adding, “all associated aircraft substitutions are temporary in nature and will not affect flight schedules or frequencies.”

At some point between the end of June and now, N506CA stopped operating Delta flights and has gone on flying with United Express flight numbers. But N936EV, which still wears the Delta Connection livery as confirmed by a picture from someone on Reddit, is still operating flights from Detroit.

However, flights with the Delta CRJ-200 are sporadic, indicating the aircraft is subbing in on short notice when a CRJ-700 or a CRJ-900 isn’t available due to the high summer travel season. While it didn’t operate any flights after July 29, the aircraft appeared again on Aug. 5, 2024 to Alpena, Mich.

The aircraft is still in Detroit meaning that until SkyWest gets enough of its new CRJ-550s up and running and the high summer travel demand drops off, the carrier could continue to throw a CRJ-200 flight into the mix randomly.

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Joey Gerardi

Joey has always been interested in planes for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. He specializes in topics surrounding the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. He graduated from WMU with a degree in Aviation Management and Operations in 2022 and now works for a major airline.

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