Notwithstanding recent complaints of poor operational performance by the nation’s biggest regional airlines, passenger boardings, revenue passenger miles (RPMs), load factors and average trip distance all broke records during last year’s third quarter, according to statistics compiled by Washington, D.C.-based The Velocity Group for the Regional Airline Association. However, it appears the days of double-digit growth have ended, at least for the time being, as capacity saturation at the nation’s biggest airports hinders any attempts at large-scale expansion.
In fact, the number of departures by regional airlines actually declined by 2.6 percent during the third quarter compared with the same period in 2005, as did available seat miles, by 0.7 percent. By contrast, in the second quarter of 2005 the industry saw a 6.4-percent increase in departures, an 18.4-percent rise in ASMs, a 20-percent increase in RPMs and a 14.8-percent jump in boardings.
