Much to the chagrin of Delta travelers in Detroit, it appears the airline has brought the much-hated CRJ-200 back from the dead (or the boneyard in Arizona). As first noticed by some eagle-eyed flyers on FlyerTalk, the airline has quietly re-introduced at least one of the dreaded “Satan’s Chariots” back into service.
The aircraft in question is N936EV, a nearly 20 year old CRJ-200 operated by regional subsidiary SkyWest. The plane was ferried from Tucson to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) on Tuesday and re-entered service with a roundtrip flight between DTW and Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) in Alpena, MI.
At the time of this writing, the aircraft is on the return leg of a roundtrip flight between Detroit and Delta County Airport in Escanaba, MI (ESC).
The return of this plane is quite surprising as Delta became the first of the big three to eliminate the CRJ-200 from its fleet back in 2023. United Express and American Eagle both still operate the single-cabin regional jet.
The airline’s replacement for the 50-seater aircraft is the swanky CRJ-550, a premium heavy CRJ-700 conversion which is initially being based in Salt Lake City.
I’ve reached out to Delta for comment to see of this is a short term swap or if they are planning to bring additional aircraft back into service for the busy summer travel season. If I hear back from them I’ll update this post with whatever information they give me.
Update: A Delta representative got back to me regarding the CRJ-200 and directed me to SkyWest’s media center so I have reached out to them as well.
Update #2: A SkyWest representative responded to my request for comment with the following statement:
As we continue to transition our CRJ550 fleet and to ensure adequate fleet resources during the busy summer travel season, SkyWest may utilize the CRJ200 in some Delta Connection markets in June and July on an as-needed basis. All associated aircraft substitutions are temporary in nature and will not affect flight schedules or frequencies.
SkyWest Airlines Corporate Communications
Summary
Delta Connection has returned at least one CRJ-200 to the fleet as of today. The aircraft has been flying short, intrastate routes from the carriers Detroit hub. We’ll have to wait and see if this is a temporary assignment or if more CRJ-200s will be returned to service.
It’s time for Delta to bury all of the CRJ”S 200, 700, and 900.
Couldn’t agree more on the -200s. The CR7 and CR9 are fine up front or in the exit row.
I don’t mind the CRJ-900 in Comfort or 1st but please Delta replace these anged aircraft with the awesome A220-100 & 300s! At least you’re eliminating the Boeing 717!
I’ve got a soft spot for the 717s, grew up flying all over on MD-80s back in the day. Though the 717 is fun on short routes like AVL-ATL, not so much on ATL-DAL.