Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) updated its web site at

http://www.raccaonline.org to include a member search feature. The listings includes business contact information and email links along with an editable description of a member's flight operations and enables members to promote themselves to web site visitors. The new feature is the first of many changes promised by RACCA.

RACCA Favors Increase in Retirement Age

RACCA submitted comments last week to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) favoring an increase in the pilot retirement age to more than 60 years old. Sent to the Age 60 Aviation Rulemaking Committee, established last September, RACCA's comments called for an increase in the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, citing the overall improvement in life expectancy and health since the rule was put in place in 1960. It noted statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control show an average increase in life expectancy of more than five years, RACCA said, with significantly greater increases if statistics for earlier periods are included. Raising the age would ease the "acute shortage of qualified entry-level pilots" while "allowing more time for the knowledge and experience of those at intermediate levels to mature."

Mitsubishi Indemnification Raises Concerns

Having artfully tackled the safety issues associated with the Cessna Caravan, RACCA is now turning its attention to the Mitsubishi MU-2 as the result of a proposed special federal aviation regulation. The organization is particularly concerned with an agreement required by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America (MHIA) when it released a new training syllabus covering the troubled aircraft. The agreement holds MHIA harmless from any future liability and RACCA is requesting the FAA help revise or eliminate the requirement. In formal comments to the SFAR docket, RACCA said the requirement conflicts "with the spirit in which the training program was developed, and [is] one which most prudent operators would be reluctant to sign."

Spring Conference Dates Set

RACCA will hold its spring conference May 15-17 at the Scottsdale Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort. Registration and conference information is available at

http://www.raccaonline.org.