Zander Drives Cars

This title is misleading because you will have to. Maybe not all of you, but some of you might have to. If you don’t know what Contour is, you’d be forgiven. They are an airline that basically exists to fly EAS (Essential Air Service) flights to places to towns far enough away from large cities that the U.S. government deems it necessary to have a flight from there to the nearest big city. I’ll leave a link here to their route map so you get an idea of where they fly to, because some of these places are weird. So, if you’re flying from Philadelphia to Plattsburgh, New York like I did, you have one option. So, let’s see if that one option is any good.

Contour flies a series of second-hand Embraer ERJ family aircraft that sued to fly for airlines like United Express and American Eagle. The plane that took me up to Plattsburgh was N800AE, a 22-year-old Embraer ERJ-140, delivered initially to American Eagle before being picked up by Contour in 2018. For a 22-year-old aircraft, I have to say that it looks pretty good. I like the paint scheme here.

Here’s a fun fact: for these EAS flights, Contour is required to offer a minimum of 30 seats on their planes. So, guess what they did? Yep, they put only 30 seats in the cabin. This not only means that you get a whopping 36″ of pitch, but on their larger ERJ-145 planes, there’s a huge space in the back of the plane with nothing in it.

Anyway: back to the cabin. The plane on my flight up to Plattsburgh was… “tired.” Look, a regional jet that has flown 30 million cycles isn’t going to be in awesome shape. But, it was a bit of a letdown compared to the shiny exterior. My seat was very comfortable, but all around me were paint chips and other bits of wear and tear that kinda grossed me out. Either that or the fact my tray table was un-wiped really motivated me to switch seats.

After we took off, I moved across the aisle, it is important to note there were 8 people on my flight. I got comfy by lounging across two seats, putting my laptop on one tray table, and reserving the other for snacks and drinks, of which there were plenty! Most Contour flights have a variety of different snack mixes and Coke products, so I very much felt winded and dined before landing. Also, have you ever seen a singular Biscoff cookie before? I haven’t. Weird.

After about 45 minutes in the air, my time with Contour came to an end as we stepped off the plane and into the eerily deserted Plattsburgh International (lol) Airport. Supposedly this place is marketed as Montreal’s second airport, and considering that’s where we were headed, I guess I can’t prove them wrong.

While my time with Contour was short, I have to say I was impressed. What the airline lacked in terms of a modern cabin and hospital-like cleanliness, it made up for in a good snack selection, amazing seats, and the feeling of being in a private jet with the usually low amount of passengers. If you can fly them, try it. If you have to fly them, you’ll be alright.