American (Re)-Activating CRJ-200 in Several Regional Markets

In April 2020, American Airlines retired one of the most unanimously disliked aircraft by passengers: the CRJ-200. Known for its cramped cabin and low windows, most passengers either love or hate this small aircraft.

Delta announced it would retire all CRJ-200s by December of 2023, and over a year ago United announced the retirement of all single-cabin aircraft in 2026 of which they operate two: the Embraer E145 and the CRJ-200. American, on the other hand, operates a large number of Embraer E145s and is now un-retiring the dreaded CRJ-200, going against the industrywide trend to rid themselves of some of the most cramped airplanes in the skies.

Over the summer of 2022, Air Wisconsin, a regional jet operator based in Appleton, Wis., announced that it would be moving operators from United Express back to American Eagle. It wasn’t more than five years ago when they made the switch from American to United, and the company now seems to be going back.

At this current point in time, it looks like Air Wisconsin will resume flying the CRJ-200s under American Eagle in April of 2023. There are nine destinations that have now been scheduled to receive the American Eagle CRJ-200 starting at some point during the month of April 2023:

Appleton, Wis.; Huntsville, Ala.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; Flint, Mich. Waterloo, Iowa; Manhattan, Kans.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are the cities that currently are scheduled to start CRJ-200 service under the American Eagle brand, all of which will be served from the airline’s hub at Chicago O’Hare.

As it is still almost six months away, there is a good chance that these schedules will change and other cities will be added to the list.