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FAA Forecasts Regional Carrier Enplanements To Reach 295.9 Million By 2031
Washington, DC-Regional carrier enplanements are forecast to increase 3.4% to 170.0 million in 2011, and continue to grow 2.8% annually reaching 295.9 million by 2031, the FAA released during its recent 36th Annual Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington, D.C. Regional carrier RPMs are expected to increase 4.3% in 2011 and continue to rise at an average annual rate of 4.1% for the remaining 20 years of the forecast period.
RAA President Roger Cohen participated in the opening day panel titled "Where do airlines go from here-What will the future airline look like?" Covering a range of current issues challenging the airline industry, the panel discussed the effects of ancillary revenues, FAA reauthorization, slot-controlled airports and passenger facility charges. When asked how the increased regulatory environment has affected the regional airline industry, Cohen underlined that "rules should be clear, and applied consistently across the country--that's most important for nationwide network airlines."
Today's regional airlines serve nearly 160 million passengers annually and play a more critical role than ever before, with one of every four airline passengers on a regional and 75% of US communities reliant on regional airlines exclusively for all their scheduled service.
Click here to view video of this FAA panel.
Click here to read the FAA Forecast Fact Sheet for fiscal years 2011-2031.
RAA, Airports, States Join to Defend Essential Air Service (EAS)
Washington, DC- RAA was joined by several aviation associations in two letters voicing strong support for the Essential Air Service program, which faces elimination in Federal Aviation Reauthorization bills moving through both chambers of Congress.
The letter, jointly signed by ACI, AAAE, NASAO and RAA, underlines: "Cutting Essential Air Service would serve as a deathblow to the economic health of hundreds of small communities across the nation. Eliminating this important program is the wrong thing to do, and now is the worst time to do it."
Read the coalition letters to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and to the Senate.
Read more about the program on the RAA website.
RAA Senior Vice President Scott Foose Chronicles Regional Airline Safety at MITRE Campus
Read Scott Foose's presentation to MITRE here.
SOURCE: MITRE ONLINE
 | | CAASD Aviation Safety Town Hall Series Coordinators Wally Feerrar (left) and Hassan Shahidi (right) with RAA's Scott Foose |
Regional airlines are carrying a growing number of America's air passengers each year - and, as Scott Foose told a MITRE Aviation Safety Town Hall Series audience, they are also putting into place many of the steps envisioned for making it safer to fly.
Foose, senior vice president of operations and safety of the Washington, D.C.-based Regional Airline Association, appeared at MITRE's McLean campus last week to chronicle the history of regional airlines from airline deregulation to the complex network it has developed today that enables passengers to fly anywhere in the world.
Read the rest of the article here.
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