Washington, DC, April 19, 2013—On behalf of its 27 member airlines, the Regional Airline Association (RAA) today underscored its cornerstone role flying 50% of the nation’s scheduled flights. Joining Airlines for America (A4A) and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), RAA has agreed to pursue legal action against DOT and FAA asking the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the agencies’ Capacity Reduction Plan for sequestration and for an emergency stay to prevent implementation of that plan pending the Court’s review.
This unified industry approach is an effort to protect the rights of the traveling public. Regional airlines currently serve 658 US airports and 470 of those airports are served exclusively by regional airlines, making regional flights, their only connection to the global economy.
Regional airlines also operate at least a quarter of the flights at each of the 14 airports the FAA has identified for high operational delays. And at four of the eight most impacted airports, regionals fly more than one half the daily flights: Chicago O’Hare (64%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (54%), New York LaGuardia (52%) and Newark Liberty (51%). The impact on our industry sector, especially our 160 million annual passengers, cannot be overstated.
