Smaller Jets Flying Farther

Small jets are flying farther.

U.S. airlines this month will use regional jets on 11,296 flights of 1,000 miles or more, or 140% more flights than in September 2003, a USA TODAY analysis of domestic schedule data shows.

A 1,000-mile flight takes about three hours.

Further, airlines will use regional jets this month on 393 flights of 1,500 miles or more. In September 2005, U.S. airlines had no flights that long on regional jets.

Some of the longest routes flown by regional jets:

*JetBlue flies 1,692 miles between Boston and Austin.

*Delta flies 1,639 miles between St. Croix and Atlanta.

*Delta flies 1,553 miles between Ponce, Puerto Rico, and Atlanta.

Most ultra-long flights are being flown with 70-seat jets, not the tighter 50-seaters. Some larger regional jets have two-class cabins, allowing for upgrades.

Frequent-flier Charles Stortz of Missoula, Mont., doesn't like flying regional jets, but says the 70- to 100-seat jets "at least provide enough space to move through an exit row."

By Barbara De Lollis

and Barbara Hansen

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