Regional Aviation Partners (RAP), the new Phoenix-based lobbying organization established by Mesa Air Group chairman Jonathan Ornstein as an advocate for small-community air service, has attracted its first new airline member and a pair of high-profile regional aircraft manufacturers in time for the start of the next congressional session this month. Led by Mesa board member and former National Mediation Board mediator Maurice Parker, RAP now counts Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Great Lakes Aviation, Bombardier Regional Aircraft and Embraer among its ranks, lending further credibility to a group that has attracted more than 25 members since Ornstein dropped his airline’s membership in the Regional Airline Association (RAA) in April.
While Ornstein shows little restraint in his criticism of RAA, calling association officials “total political animals, more concerned with Washington cocktail parties than making a real difference,” Parker takes a diplomatic tack, preferring to stress cooperation with the better established group rather than animosity.
