Banner

RAA Touts Safety and Resiliency of Regional Airlines
But Warns of Flight Cuts from Pilot Shortfall


While the nation’s regional airlines focus on safety enhancements and growth, a looming pilot shortage could force flight cutbacks in many of the nearly 500 cities that rely exclusively on regionals for scheduled passenger service. This message was relayed to attendees of the Wichita Aero Club luncheon during a July speech by RAA President Roger Cohen. Click here to read the full Wichita Business Journal report.

“Absent a game-changing shift in the supply of trained aviation professionals, particularly pilots, communities even larger than Wichita – and certainly those smaller – are in jeopardy of losing some, if not all their scheduled flights,” Cohen cautioned. “This could cut off communities from today’s global economy where airline service is as important as an Internet connection.” Click here to see the entire presentation.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter 

Headlines


RAA Convention News
Join us in Montreal, Quebec on May 6-9, 2013- Check out the changes YOU suggested!

Industry News
Delta Shuts Down Comair
SkyWest Sees Mitsubishi Order Kicking Off Fleet Renewal
Propeller Aircraft, Fueled By Economics, Take Off
Delta Uses Regional Jets to Skirt Wright Amendment Limits
Hawaiian Airlines to Add Turboprops to Fly to Smaller Airports
Regional Airline Association Chief Warns of Pilot Shortage
Chorus Aviation Subsidiary Jazz Faces Strike Mandate From Key Employees
Aircraft Facility to Quit Airport
New Airline to Fly Out of SHD Airport
SkyWest to Captain Essential Air Service in Laramie
Hawaii Island Air Enhances Inter-Island Service; Launches New Brand and Rolls Out New Fleet of Efficient Jet Prop Aircraft
Air Traffic In The Cloud
As They Lose Traffic, Once Bustling Airports Have Space to Rent

RAA Convention News


Join us in Montreal, Quebec on May 6-9, 2013- Check out the changes YOU suggested!



Check out the MSP highlight reel- starring YOU!


Your voice put us into action! The RAA Annual Convention has evolved into a robust trade-show and the annual meeting place for the regional aviation industry. Our goal is to make sure that our convention meets the needs of all attendees, especially our exhibitors. We appreciate all the suggestions and feedback many of you offered onsite and after the show. In many ways, RAA is taking a new approach to planning for 2013 and treating our show in Montreal like it’s the first RAA convention while maintaining the elements of the show that attendees find beneficial. To that end, RAA is excited to announce the two significant changes for the 2013 convention.

New Exhibit Hall Hours! Tuesday & Wednesday Only!

Tired of “dead” Thursdays during the RAA show? Let’s face it: Longer hours don’t necessarily translate into more buyers at your booth. The trade show hours are revised to maximize your time and make every hour you’re on the floor count.
Your time is valuable and since the majority of RAA Exhibitors will be participating in the Purchasing Forum on Thursday morning, the Exhibit Hall will close at 7:00pm on Wednesday, May 8.
New Exhibit Hall hours will be:
Tuesday, May 7- 2:00 pm-7:00pm
Wednesday, May 8- 10:00am-6:00pm
Thursday: Tear Down Only

New Innovative, Networking Friendly Floor Plan

RAA has completely revamped the Exhibit Hall floor plan to bring more visibility and networking opportunities for exhibitors throughout the hall. This floor plan will make it easier for both exhibitors and airline attendees to meet up and creates a better traffic flow throughout the entire hall.
  • Maximize exposure and networking potential on the floor:
  • Exhibit Hall “terminals” lead attendees to new and expanded attractions on the show floor (Regional Horizons Booth, Silent Auction, University Commons, Prize Area, etc). Expect exciting announcements regarding these attractions in the coming weeks
  • Informal “networking nooks” will be located throughout the hall
  • Wi-Fi will be provided to all attendees in the Exhibit Hall at no cost to attendees! This saves exhibitors money and adds value to the attendee experience without searching for hotspots
  • The very first RAA Coffeehouse/Bar on the show floor will be placed near the general session area to provide refreshments throughout the day in one central location
We anticipated that you might have some questions….
How does closing the hall on Thursday increase ROI on Tuesday & Wednesday?
RAA knows exhibitors want to see and meet personally with airline decision-makers. Typically, RAA airline attendees not only walk the trade-show floor part of the convention, but they also attend their subject area committee and technical meetings. Next year in Montreal, these meetings will be shorter and/or moved to Thursday so they won’t conflict with their time spent on the show floor.

How does this affect the Purchasing Forum?
The RAA Purchasing Forum is traditionally the most exciting part of the RAA Convention. Now Exhibitors can focus solely on their meetings with the airline purchasing representatives without also manning a booth. In Montreal 2013, we’ve fixed this issue while expanding the very successful In-booth purchasing meetings Wednesday afternoon.

Why did the floor plan change?
The floor plan changed to help improve the traffic flow throughout the exhibit floor. The new floor plan is designed to maximize attendee interaction with exhibitors. The terminals are designed to draw and keep attendee traffic to those areas with interactive activities. The main aisle has changed from the normal straight across aisle to a specially designed cross aisle to help facilitate flow throughout the hall. RAA believes the reinvented floor plan will make it a comfortable and convenient place for attendees to increase their time spent in the hall with exhibitors.

Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Read More | Return to Headlines

Industry News


Delta Shuts Down Comair
Associated Press (07/27/12) Sewell, Dan

Delta Air Lines is shutting down regional carrier Comair at the end of September as it switches to bigger jets. Comair has slashed its fleet, flights and workforce in the last seven years. Delta said the smaller regional aircraft are expensive to fly because they are not as fuel-efficient and cost more to maintain as the fleet ages. "We just really couldn't get the cost structure to where we wanted to get it," said Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection and a former Comair president. "It ultimately was a cost issue; it wasn't a quality issue with Comair. They're a good airline, great employees, very innovative ... we just could not solve the cost issues."
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

SkyWest Sees Mitsubishi Order Kicking Off Fleet Renewal
Bloomberg (07/12/12) Tomesco, Frederic

SkyWest has made a preliminary agreement to buy 100 regional jets from Mitsubishi Aircraft as part of a plan to replace hundreds of aircraft. Deliveries of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet will begin in 2017. SkyWest is the largest operator of Bombardier-built regional jets, and means to replace most of its fleet of 718 aircraft over the next 10 to 12 years. Mitsubishi’s regional jet is scheduled to make its first flight in late 2013, equipped with engines from United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney unit. SkyWest CFO Michael Kraupp said that Bombardier, Embraer, and Mitsubishi are all in the running for future regional jet orders.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Propeller Aircraft, Fueled By Economics, Take Off
Wall Street Journal (07/09/12) Cameron, Doug

ATR and Bombardier have seen orders for turboprops swell. Props have outsold regional jets by two-to-one over the past five years in the global market for aircraft with between 50 and 90 seats. The reasoning for the carriers and aircraft-leasing companies purchasing the aircraft is that at elevated oil prices, a 70-seat turboprop costs about as much to operate as a 50-seat jet. Driven by the economics of fuel, propeller aircraft are also becoming larger. A key breakthrough for the turboprop market came earlier this year when Canada's WestJet Airlines opted to equip a new regional unit with as many as 45 Bombardier Q400 turboprops rather than regional jets.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Delta Uses Regional Jets to Skirt Wright Amendment Limits
USA Today (07/24/12) Mutzabaugh, Ben

Delta recently announced plans to add nonstop service between Dallas Love Field and the company's Atlanta hub, with the Delta Connection affiliate ExpressJet flying five daily round-trip flights starting in September. However, the route comes at the cost of Delta's current offering between Dallas Love Field and Memphis. The company will stop its two daily round-trip flights on that route when the Atlanta service starts. The Atlanta route is unusual for Dallas Love, which is still subject to Wright Amendment restrictions that limit flying from the close-to-downtown Dallas airport. The amendment will be phased out in 2014, but it currently only allows flights to airports in states adjacent to Texas and in Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. Nonstop commercial flights to other states are prohibited, with the exception of aircraft that seat 56 or fewer passengers. The ExpressJet flights to Atlanta will use 50-seat Canadair regional jets.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Hawaiian Airlines to Add Turboprops to Fly to Smaller Airports
Associated Press (07/18/12)

Hawaiian Airlines says it plans to acquire turboprops that seat 50 or fewer passengers to fly to smaller airports such as West Maui, Lanai and Molokai as part of efforts to compete with other interisland carriers. Island Air could be most affected by the move. Currently the state's largest turboprop operator, Island Air averages 48 flights a day primarily to smaller airports. Other interisland airline competitors say Hawaiian's plans are concerning.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Regional Airline Association Chief Warns of Pilot Shortage
Wichita Business Journal (KS) (07/17/12) McCoy, Daniel

A pilot shortage is imminent, and will affect communities of all sizes, says Regional Airline Association President Roger Cohen. This shortage will "have a real-world impact" and reduce services to various communities, Cohen said as the keynote speaker at the Wichita Aero Club’s July luncheon. Cohen pointed out that regional airlines have grown significantly during the past three decades, and its safety record with it. Most of his talk, however, centered around the growing need for pilots. A Boeing forecast that the world will need nearly 500,000 new airline pilots during the next 20 years, but the difficulty, time, and cost of training will make this need hard to meet. Cohen suggested that the federal government reconsider a new rule, at least temporarily, that will require pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flight time before they can obtain their commercial license. Cohen said this requirement is arbitrary, considering that the aircraft they will have to fly to get those hours will not be the same as the kind of aircraft commercial pilots will fly. Cohen also suggested federal assistance to prospective pilots.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Chorus Aviation Subsidiary Jazz Faces Strike Mandate From Key Employees
Canada NewsWire (07/27/12)

Airline dispatchers represented by the Canadian Air Line Dispatchers Association (CALDA) have given their association a strike mandate in their negotiations with Jazz Air. A failure of the conciliation process now underway could lead to a work stoppage at the airline as early as mid-September, effectively grounding it. Conciliation is expected to conclude by Aug. 27. Jazz dispatches more flights each day than any other airline in Canada, serving communities from coast to coast and many cities in the U.S.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Aircraft Facility to Quit Airport
Times Union (07/24/12) Anderson, Eric

The Colgan Air maintenance facility at the Albany International Airport will close on Sept. 22, putting 53 employees out of work. Colgan currently maintains its fleet of 68-passenger Bombardier Q400 turboprops at the facility. Colgan had operated flights under contract with United Airlines as United Express. Winding down operations at Colgan is part of a reorganization after Pinnacle filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

New Airline to Fly Out of SHD Airport
WHSV-3 (Va) (07/24/12)

The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Commission has announced a change in United Express carrier from Colgan Air to a new regional airline partner. Silver Airways will operate all United flights from Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) in Virginia utilizing the newer generation Saab 340Bplus aircraft. Silver Airways takes over the route August 1, 2012. "We are pleased to continue United Express service and introduce the Saab 340Bplus to the Shenandoah Valley,” said Mickey Bowman, vice president of Essential Air Service at Silver Airways. “The time-saving convenience of SHD, coupled with worldwide connections at Washington-Dulles provides travelers to and from the Valley with exceptional service."
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

SkyWest to Captain Essential Air Service in Laramie
Wyoming Business Report (07/24/12) Wilcox, Mark

Pending approval of the federal government, Great Lakes Airlines will be replaced by SkyWest Airlines as the Essential Air Service carrier of choice for Laramie Regional Airport in Wyoming. SkyWest would take over by October 1. The airport hopes the change to SkyWest will bump up the amount of enplanements by about 10 percent.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Hawaii Island Air Enhances Inter-Island Service; Launches New Brand and Rolls Out New Fleet of Efficient Jet Prop Aircraft
MarketWatch (07/19/12)

Hawaiian regional carrier Island Air has launched a new business model with a total overhaul of its image and brand. The move comes along with the arrival of its new common fleet type, the ATR, in August. Besides updating its website and creating a new logo mark, Island Air is upgrading its fleet with ATR42 and ATR72 aircraft. These new aircraft are more fuel efficient and can carry more passengers than the current Dash 8 aircraft. According to CEO Lesley Kaneshiro, this makes Island Air the first carrier to operate the ATR72 Jet-Prop aircraft in Hawaii.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

Air Traffic In The Cloud
Fast Company (07/25/12) Ungerleider, Neal

Xerox and flight data firm AvFinity recently announced a cloud computing partnership that will reduce airline costs by sharing flight and passenger information on Xerox's cloud services. Xerox's Pat Hochstein says 60 percent of regional airlines use AvFinity's AIRS system, which connects flight plans with American and international authorities, shares advance passenger information with government agencies, and connects legacy airline tech with the cloud. Regional airlines are a major market for external vendors, as America's small airlines are in the middle of a long-term crises caused by the economic crisis and internal aerospace industry turmoil. Companies capable of cutting an airline's operating costs receive a great deal of attention from regional airlines. AvFinity's promise to customers is that the cost of a one-time transition is less expensive than the cost of continually patching legacy technologies.
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines

As They Lose Traffic, Once Bustling Airports Have Space to Rent
New York Times (07/09/12) Levere, Jane L.

The fate of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, which was once the main hub of Trans World Airline, may serve as a warning for other airports serving small cities around the United States. The airport once flew as many as 475 departures a day, but now there are only 256 daily departures. Half of the concourses at the older of its two terminals are vacant, leaving the airport searching for new ways to generate revenue using the space. Airports in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Oakland have lost a significant amount of their business as airlines consolidate more of their flights in bigger-city airports. Experts believe the problems faced by airports with unused space will continue to grow. William S. Swelbar, research engineer at the MIT International Center for Air Transportation, says one factor is American carriers' ongoing rejection of the 50-seat regional jet. "A large number of airports in the United States today are totally dependent on the 50-seat aircraft for access to the air transportation system," says Swelbar. "There are going to be some smaller airports that will not be able to sustain service over the long-term. It is therefore absolutely time for them to think about alternative uses of their facilities."
Share Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  | Return to Headlines


Abstract News © Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC.
Powered by Information, Inc.
Follow us:
     
Reed
About RAA
With safety as its highest priority, RAA represents North American regional airlines, and the manufacturers of products and services supporting the regional airline industry, before the Congress, DOT, FAA and other federal agencies.

With more than 13,000 regional airline flights every day, regional airlines operate more than half of the nation’s scheduled flights with nearly 75% of US airports relying on regional airlines exclusively.

Founded in 1975, Washington, DC-based RAA also provides a wide array of technical, government relations and public relations services for regional airlines. The association's 28 member airlines and nearly 200 associate members represent the key decision makers of this vital sector of the commercial aviation industry.

For more information on Regional Horizons e-NEWS contact:
Regional Airline Association | 2025 M Street, NW | Suite 800 | Washington, DC 20036-3309
Tel: 202/367-1170 | [email protected]