REGIONAL AVIATION NEWS :: DECEMBER 17, 2007

Lynx Launches
The long-anticipated launch of Frontier Airlines’ new regional carrier – Lynx Aviation – became a reality December 7 when its first Bombardier Q400 took off from Denver en route to Billings, Mont. The new carrier sported new graphics chosen by Frontier’s fans including a lynx cub...

DayJet Adds 28 Destinations Across the South
As promised, DayJet’s Florida operations are expanding across the southeast, as the per-seat, on-demand carrier added 28 new destinations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, last Monday. The network expansion comes just 60 days after the launch of DayJet’s per-seat, on-demand business...

Runway Conflicts, Excursions Plague FAA, Regionals
The FAA investigated three runway incidents involving regional aircraft recently, on the heels of the recent General Accountability Office report that passengers face "a high risk of catastrophic runway collision" because of FAA's inattention to the problem, technical glitches with advanced safety...

Eagle Pilots Expand Anti-Sale Campaign
After saying the proposed sale of American Eagle by parent-company AMR Corp, would harm passengers, Eagle pilots joined American Airlines pilots in opposing the move. Related Story  American Airlines pilots voiced opposition to the sale based on its scope clause. The American Eagle pilots' union, a unit...

Mesa Loses Motion
Mesa Air Group’s motion for a new trial was tossed out by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris. Mesa had asked for a new trial...

Confusing Week for NY Decongestant Proposals
Amid press reports indicating the Department of Transportation will make auctions part of its recommendations when Secretary Mary Peters reports to President Bush this week, the department published the 188-page report from Aviation Rulemaking Committee tasked with coming up with solutions. The report came...

Delta Tackles ATL Baggage Problems
With Atlantic Southeast Airlines often cited as having the worst baggage record in the Department of Transportation Air Travel Consumer Report, the major carrier announced it is updating its 30-year-old Atlanta baggage facility to the tune of $100 million, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The...

Composite Safety Concerns are Red Herrings
Although the general public sees composite aircraft as a new frontier in aviation, speakers during the recent Aviation Today webinar – Aircraft Composites: How New Materials are Forever Changing Aviation – on composite safety pointed out that experience with composites dates back three decades...

Regional Jet Demand Shifts Upward
Forecast International projects that 3,800 regional aircraft will be produced from 2007 through 2016, including 2,539 regional jets and 1,261 regional turboprops. The new study – The Market for Regional Transport Aircraft – estimates the overall value of this production at $99.7 billion, as...

First Ancillary Revenue Conference Held
At a time, when Ryan Air is hailed as an innovator in developing new revenue streams which is now being copied by Mesa Airlines, it is no surprise that a conference on raising ancillary revenue was held to teach airlines how to increase profits, loyalty programs and co-branding credit cards as well as...

Small Airports Must be More Creative
Smaller airports are getting creative in effort to retain service, attract low-fare carriers and even to regain service, according to press reports around the country. Some are offering per-passenger subsidies such as the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C., while others are improving...

Malev Considers Superjet Order
Malév Hungarian Airlines plans to upgrade its current Bombardier CRJ and Fokker fleets and is studying Sukhoi’s SSJ100 regional jets with the possibility of acquiring 15. In the meantime, the company signed a four-way agreement with Sukhoi, Vnyesekonom Bank, the Bank for Development and Foreign...

Safer Flying in Icing Conditions
In the wake of the season’s first severe ice storm in the ice-prone Midwest, the Federal Aviation Administration’s multi-pronged approach to icing issues hopes to make a difference by using both immediate safety actions and longer-term rule changes, according to RAN’s sister publication Air...

NextGen Means Safety and Efficiency
Marion Blakey, who recently took over as the new president and chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) says “perhaps the single most important goal is transforming the national air transportation system.” The former head of the Federal Aviation Administration said “AIA...

Quick Takes – Pinnacle, AE, XJT, Snecma RJ Engine, Embraer, ATR/Berjaya, Colgan/United, Horizon/Air France, Delta
PNCL, TWU Contract Ratified Pinnacle Airlines Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines Inc., reached an initial contract with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) which represents the airline’s dispatchers group. Dispatchers ratified the agreement last week with 88 percent voting in favor of the...