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Did you know regional airlines fly 50% of the US scheduled flights?
This stat and other 2011-2012 data is available in the recently publi shed RAA 2012 Annual Report . Despite industry consolidation, new regulatory ground rules, recruiting challenges, a stagnant global economy, skyrocketing fuel costs and airline bankruptcies--regional airlines continue to adapt and remain dedicated to operate safely, professionally and reliably. Click here to view this one-stop, "go-to" reference tool clearly highlighting the regional airlines prominent role in the nation's air transportation system and its increasingly important role in the global airline network.
Headlines
RAA Convention News
2013 Exhibitor Prospectus...SIGN UP TODAY!
Industry News
American Airlines Signs Deal to Outsource Some Flying
Cutbacks by Regional Airlines Hurt Smaller U.S. Cities
Regional Airlines Must Choose Whether to Align With a Major Carrier or Go It Alone
Aviation Groups Pressure Obama to Ground European Airline Emissions Rules
Island Air Reaches Deal With Aerway Leasing for Five New Aircraft
Atlanta Flights to Start Oct. 1
United Adds Two Routes From Cleveland Hub, Drops Another
Era Alaska Completes Upgrades, Resumes All Flights
Delta Adds Williston-Twin Cities Connection
Pinnacle Airlines to Ask Judge to Cancel Union Contracts if It Can't Get Concessions
Regional Airline Opening Maintenance Station at CVG
Bombardier Expands Sales and Marketing Support in the Americas With Dallas Office
RAA Convention News
2013 Exhibitor Prospectus...SIGN UP TODAY!
Information on the 38th RAA Annual Convention is now available in the 2013 Exhibitor Prospectus. All the information you need to guide your way through maximizing your ROI during the convention.
Contact information, floor plans and a helpful checklist can be found here!
Industry News
American Airlines Signs Deal to Outsource Some Flying
Memphis Daily News (09/13/12) Vol. 127, No. 179
American Airlines will outsource some of its regional flying to SkyWest to reduce costs while American is under bankruptcy protection. SkyWest will manage some flying currently done by American Eagle in Los Angeles and Dallas. In a four-year deal, SkyWest and its ExpressJet subsidiary will operate 23 50-seat Bombardier regional jets under American Eagle, starting Nov. 15. The changes are expected to be completed by spring. American Eagle will close its pilot and flight attendant bases at Los Angeles International Airport, keeping some Chicago-based crews for some flights with larger, 65-seat jets. Eagle CEO Daniel Garton said that the airline's employees in Los Angeles will be offered positions elsewhere. He also said that outsourcing to SkyWest would diversify American's regional feed and help it emerge from bankruptcy as a stronger airline.
Cutbacks by Regional Airlines Hurt Smaller U.S. Cities
Reuters (09/14/12) Jacobs, Karen
Chiquita Brands plans to shutter its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, in large part because of cutbacks in air service to the area. Delta Air Lines has significantly shrank its presence at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, now offering only roughly 120 daily flights, down from more than 600 flights six years ago. Likewise, small and midsized cities across America are facing dramatic reductions in air service as tough economic times and rising fuel costs have spurred carriers to pare flying to money-losing markets and focus on big cities. Only 61 regional airlines remain today, down from 247 three decades ago. Still, regional airlines provide a critical link to air travel across the United States, with nearly 500 cities served mainly by a regional airline.
Regional Airlines Must Choose Whether to Align With a Major Carrier or Go It Alone
Flight Global (09/21/2012) Knibb, David
Many regional airline executives say U.S. regional carriers are overreliant on major airlines and relations with them have soured to the point where the survival of many regionals is unlikely. If the U.S. regional airline model is "one regional bidding against others for a contract to feed traffic to and from a major carrier," then the model, if not broken, has degenerated into what consultant George Hamlin describes as "a race to the bottom." He contends that "the large carriers are playing the small ones off by putting segments of the business out for bid, and pretty much accepting the lowest bidder that can do the job. It's becoming a commodity business with multiple bidders. And the cost pressure on regionals is extreme." There are persistent differences in regional models worldwide, the most significant being how much traffic is carried by independent regional carriers in different locales. Independents carry 33 percent of all regional traffic globally, but North America has nearly zero independent regionals. In 2010, Lufthansa Consulting demonstrated that the biggest regionals in the world also boast the closest operational ties to a major airline partner, and the firm explained that "financial integration" is not as important as "network integration." Lufthansa Consulting Associate Partner Andreas Kraus observes that "if you reflect on the competition game in the aviation industry, North America has been five to 10 years ahead of Europe." Deregulation has impacted North America, while geographic dissimilarities are substantial as well. There are many more European destinations within the range of regional aircraft than in North America, therefore European regionals fly more point-to-point routes and depend less on feed traffic with the major airlines. Still, Kraus cautions that even in Europe, "the market niches for independent regional airlines are getting smaller."
Aviation Groups Pressure Obama to Ground European Airline Emissions Rules
The Hill (09/17/12) Laing, Keith
Several aviation groups, including the Regional Airline Association, are urging President Obama to try to halt European Union airline emissions requirements that would require airlines flying to and from European countries to reduce their emissions from 2006 levels by 3 percent by 2013 and 5 percent by 2020. The groups want President Obama to file a formal protest with the International Civil Aviation Organization, which regulates international air travel. The House has passed a bill objecting to the EU emission regulation, but the full Senate has not yet voted on the measure.
Island Air Reaches Deal With Aerway Leasing for Five New Aircraft
Pacific Business News (09/10/12)
Island Air will lease five new aircraft as part of its plan to replace the turboprop aircraft in its fleet, as well as double the size of this fleet from four to eight by the end of 2013. Island Air reached an agreement for five ATR 42 aircraft with Chicago-based Aerway Leasing. This deal will allow Island Air to improve its service, officials said. "These aircraft represent an integral part of our plan to deliver on our service commitment to the ever-increasing number of guests flying with us each day, and is the next step in our NBP [new business plan],” CEO Lesley Kaneshiro said. Island Air makes more than 350 weekly flights between the Hawaiian Islands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Atlanta Flights to Start Oct. 1
Hattiesburg American (Mississippi) (09/22/12) Ciurczak, Ellen
For the first time since the airport was served by two carriers in the 1990s, flights out of the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport will fly to Atlanta beginning Oct 1. A 34-seat SAAB-340 will fly non-stop, twice daily flights to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on weekdays and round-trip service once each on Saturday and Sunday. Silver Airways will take over routes currently served by Delta Airlines, which connect through Memphis. Delta notified the U.S. Department of Transportation in July that it was dropping 24 routes in smaller markets across the nation, including Hattiesburg-Laurel. Now, the flights will connect to Atlanta.
United Adds Two Routes From Cleveland Hub, Drops Another
USA Today (09/21/12) Mutzabaugh, Ben
United Airlines will add two new United Express routes out of its Cleveland hub this winter while dropping one other. The airline will begin two daily round-trip flights to Nashville on Dec. 19 while a single daily round-trip flight to Oklahoma City starts Feb. 14. United's United Express partner ExpressJet will fly both routes using 50-seat regional jets. United's two daily round-trip United Express flight to Green Bay, Wis., will end Dec. 18, the day before the company starts up the Nashville route with the same number of flights.
Era Alaska Completes Upgrades, Resumes All Flights
The Cordova Times (09/18/2012)
Era Alaska officials recently announced that all upgrades on the company’s aircraft have been completed in compliance with regulatory specifications and that the fleet is back on schedule. Bob Hajdukovich, president and CEO of Era Aviation, said, “Safety and compliance are of the upmost importance to Era Alaska, and our staff worked diligently to get the upgrades completed quickly and thoroughly.” All Era Alaska aircraft were grounded on Sept. 15 after the company’s senior management learned that the cockpit voice recorder common to its entire fleet was not fully conforming to all regulatory specifications.
Delta Adds Williston-Twin Cities Connection
The Dickinson Press (09/18/12) Dalrymple, Amy
Delta Air Lines is adding jet service between Williston, ND, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, making it the second major airline to add service to the region. Delta’s twice-daily, nonstop jet service will begin Nov. 12. Delta Connection will partner with Skywest Airlines to offer the flights with 50-seat jet aircraft. United Airlines announced in July it will add jet service from Williston to Denver starting Nov. 4.
Pinnacle Airlines to Ask Judge to Cancel Union Contracts if It Can't Get Concessions
Commercial Appeal (TN) (09/14/12) Risher, Wayne
Pinnacle Airlines is seeking concessions from its workers’ unions in their collective bargaining agreements and has sought permission from the Bankruptcy Court to cancel the agreements if the concessions are not offered. The union for the company’s dispatchers has already made concessions on retirement, pay, work rules, and benefits, but the Air Line Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants have not. Pinnacle CEO John Spanjers said the company would of course prefer to negotiate but that "we must make meaningful progress very quickly; there is little time to spare."
Regional Airline Opening Maintenance Station at CVG
Cincinnati Business Courier (09/11/12)
Pinnacle Airlines plans to open a new aircraft maintenance station at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Pinnacle began to hire several former Comair employees. The airline does not have a set number for employees at CVG yet. Joe Williams, Pinnacle’s director of communications, said there will be a combination of new and existing positions that include mechanics, store clerks, supervisors, and management. This new maintenance station will service Pinnacle’s CRJ-200 and CRJ-900 regional aircraft.
Bombardier Expands Sales and Marketing Support in the Americas With Dallas Office
StockHouse.com (09/19/2012)
Bombardier Aerospace today plans to continue its regionalization by establishing a Bombardier Commercial Aircraft sales and marketing office in Dallas, Texas, through one of its U.S. subsidiaries. This office will serve the U.S. market and the growth markets of Latin America. The sales and marketing team will be co-located with the group Flexjet, which provides fractional jet ownership and services in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area.
Abstract News © Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC.
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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 | raa@raa.org
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