Actually, the market for the smaller RJ's is dying and the hot new area is the 100 seat market. Boeing tried twice before to cancel the 717 but was talked out of it by airlines, primarily Airtran I believe. Boeing has abandoned this market segment and the only producer of 100 seat jets is Embrear. Even Canadair doesn't have a jet in this segment yet.
What's the seating capacity on the CRJ-900? 80 to 90? Then again, I haven't actually seen any of those.
A sad day to see the end of the DC-9/MD-8x/MD-9x line, really. Not a bad 40-year run for them, though.
}:-)4
The CRJ900 is 80-90 seats but is not yet in production. They're also looking into developing something in the range of 110 seats. I think what we'll end up with is two distinct markets- Boeing vs. Airbus for larger (130+) jets and Canadair vs. Embraer for the smaller ones. I think Bombardier blew it- they invented the regional jet but cancelled the 90-seater, giving Embraer an advantage of several years. If they don't pick up the pace Embraer could end up pushing them out of teh no. 3 spot in the jet market.