Last year’s fourth quarter saw regional airline departures decline 11.6 percent, passenger traffic drop 7.5 percent, total capacity fall 9 percent and block hours drop 13.2 percent. Although the RAA hasn’t yet compiled first-quarter numbers, monthly figures from early this year didn’t raise the spirits of anyone looking for signs of a quick turnaround. But RAA president Roger Cohen exudes an optimism one might expect in the midst of a bull market–not because he expects a return to pre-2008 growth patterns any time soon, but because opportunities abound for some real, substantive progress in areas neglected for too many years.
“We joined with every other aviation alphabet organization in saying this downturn in the economy really has given us great breathing room to begin speeding up the implementation of an improved ATC system,” said Cohen. “That has been a continuing theme RAA has [pressed], because we account for half the flights, and the majority of those on one end is one of the busy connection hubs.”
