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Washington, DC — The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has released its 2024 Annual Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the crucial role regional airlines play in sustaining air connectivity across the nation. The release comes as the organization prepares for its Leaders Conference next week.
“RAA is proud to release our 2024 Annual Report, which reflects on a pivotal year for regional air service in the U.S.,” said RAA’s President and CEO, Faye Malarkey Black. “Whether 2023 stands as the nadir of U.S. air service contraction before continued reconnection and recovery or the pilot shortage is allowed to return and worsen depending on what we do next. RAA will continue to work relentlessly toward a future where government, industry, and frontline workers partner to reconnect our country with safe and reliable regional air service. Let this be our call to action.”
Highlights from the report include:
Regional Air Service Impact
- 634 U.S. airports have regional air service
- 63% of U.S. airports rely solely on regional airlines for air service.
- 31% of scheduled passenger departures in the U.S. were operated by regional airlines.
- In states like West Virginia, Alaska, and Vermont, regional airlines provide over 70% of the total air service.
- In Kansas, Maine, South Dakota, Mississippi, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Virginia, Indiana, and Wisconsin regional airlines provide 50-70% of the air service.
Workforce
- Nearly half of today's part 121 qualified pilot workforce face federally mandated age 65 retirement within fifteen years.
“The data between these pages reinforces our values. Air service is a strong thread that ties our nation together as a whole, and its importance to economic vitality and social well-being is especially pronounced at the 426 airports in our country that rely on regional airlines exclusively for air service. Without regional airlines, 63% of our country’s airports would not have commercial air service,” said Chip Childs, RAA Chairman and SkyWest, Inc. President and CEO.
To learn more about the role of regional airlines in maintaining air service and the challenges facing the aviation industry, including maintenance workforce trends, view the full 2024 RAA Annual Report here.
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