Nearly 50 percent of the nation’s commercial airline schedule today is operated by Regional Airlines. One of every five domestic airline passengers will travel on one of the 2,700 regional aircraft that serve around 658 cities across the U.S. In 470 of those cities regional airlines provide the only scheduled service. Regional Airlines make about 13,000 flights a day carrying about 160 million passengers a year.
Looking after their best collective interesst is the Regional Airline Association (RAA), a business association headquartered in Washington, D.C. RAA represents members’ interests in Congressional hearings and before the Department of Transportation, the FAA and other agencies.
Back a few decades these airlines were known as Commuter Airlines and in the late 1970s there were more than 200 regional airlines flying some 11 million passengers a year. Today the RAA has 28 member airlines, again operating about one half of the scheduled airline flights in the United States. Another fact on how the airline industry has changed.
Recently Roger Cohen, president of the RAA, discussed the Regional Airline industry and the mission of the RAA with AMT. You can read the entire interview in the April 2013 issue of AMT or online by visiting www.aviationpros.com.
During the week of May 6th, AMT will be attending the RAA 38th Annual Convention held in Montreal, QC, Canada. Numerous educational sessions are planned including several focused on aircraft maintenance. More information can be found on www.raa.org.
