The Regional Airline Association opens the next chapter in its 32-year history this year as new association president Roger Cohen presides over his first RAA convention in Memphis. But in the five months since the group bid farewell to Debby McElroy, Cohen hasn’t enjoyed much time to acclimate to his new environs, having dived head-first into one of the most contentious debates over FAA funding the industry has ever had to face. Happily for the RAA’s 42 member airlines, 30-plus years in the airline business and countless hours spent on Capitol Hill and in various state capitols have taught the 55-year-old Cleveland native to swim with confidence among the K Street sharks.
“I inherited an established, functioning, great motivated team and institution, so the transition into the job per se has been kind of seamless,” Cohen told AIN. Once the FAA issued its proposal, however, any thoughts of an uncomplicated first year on the job would prove fleeting indeed.
More In Regulations and Government
