General Administration Civil Aviation in China (CAAC)
Briefing
Regional Airline Association
Washington DC
April 10, 2008
U.S. Regional Airlines
at a Glance
• Regional airlines flew 159 million passengers in 2007
– 14,000 flights per day (50% of domestic schedule)
– 23% of U.S. domestic passengers travel on regional airlines
• Regional airlines operate 40% of U.S. commercial airline fleet
– 1782 regional jets
– 1100 turboprop & piston aircraft
• 61,000 regional airline employees
- 18% increase since 2003
• 635 U.S. airports served by regional airlines
– 450 served only by regionals
About RAA
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Founded in 1975
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Collaborative professional trade association of North American regional
airlines based in Washington, DC.
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Serves U.S. regional airlines and the suppliers of products and services
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Represents regional airlines before
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U.S. Congress
Federal Aviation Administration
Department of Transportation
Transportation Security Administration/Department of Homeland Security
Environmental Protection Agency and other federal and state agencies.
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42 Airline Members
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RAA member airlines transport 97% of all regional airline passengers.
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315 suppliers of goods and services to regional airlines that participate as
Associate Members
70% of US Served Only by Regionals
Regional Airline Trends
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Virtually all U.S. regional flying done in partnership with network airlines, with
exceptions for some “branded” flying (i.e. ExpressJet) and point-to-point
service on smaller a/c in specific regions, (i.e. Alaska, Hawaii, New England,
Mountain West)
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Regional airline growth has flattened, projected to remain slow through 2008
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Average seating capacity of the regional airline fleet has grown by 30% since
2002 to more than 51 seats per a/c
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Passengers flying on regional airlines increased by about 2.5% but the
number of regional airline flights declined 3% from 2005-2006