For the first time in the 36-year history of the RAA a sitting DOT Secretary visited the association’s annual convention, as Ray LaHood made the trip to Nashville last month to deliver one of the most upbeat keynote addresses heard by delegates to the spring get-together in several years.
Indeed, at this convention, held May 16 to 19, it seemed the regional airline industry could turn the proverbial page in a chapter of its history indelibly stained by the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in February 2009. Since then, every airline member of the RAA has adopted the voluntary safety programs known as ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program) and 98 percent now use FOQA (Flight Operational Quality Assurance). People can debate whether or not the industry has gotten safer as a result, but there seems no doubt that a group that once seemed to exhibit a “tin ear” to public perception now shows a keen sensitivity to it.
