Regional Airlines Form The Backbone Of The Aviation System

Report by Doug Abbey
Senior Vice President, Seabury Group

Regional airlines form the backbone of the national air transportation system, connecting 635 scheduled-service airports in the United States today. At 442 of those airports – more than 70% -- regional airlines provide the only scheduled service. No other category of airline comes even remotely close to having such a broad national impact. 

Last year, the regional airline industry carried more than 158 million passengers – accounting for more than one-out-of-every four domestic enplanements. Demand for regional air service in the US has doubled nearly every eight years since Deregulation in 1978 largely as a result of the development of new-generation aircraft which are more aptly suited to new competitive and market realities.

Regional airlines remain among the most dynamic among all segments of commercial aviation. The industry has effectively transitioned from a piston-dominated fleet in the 1970s, to predominantly turboprop-powered aircraft in the 1980s and 90s, and finally to jets from the 1990s onward.

Today’s regional airlines operate in a variety of business models, ranging from independent companies targeting point-to-point routes within a defined geographic scope of service to comprehensive national networks flown on behalf of major air carriers. All together, 72 active US reporting regional carriers provide scheduled passenger service, nearly 25% of these exclusively in the state of Alaska.

Within the lower-48 states, a majority of all regional airline flights are marketed publicly as specific brands of larger carriers including, for example, American Airlines (American Eagle® and American Connection®), Continental Airlines (Continental Express® and Continental Connection®), Delta Air Lines (Delta Connection®), Northwest Airlines (Northwest Airlink®), United Airlines (United Express®), and US Airways (US Airways Express®). The same is also true for regional operators located in nearby Canada and Mexico.

At last count, regional airlines served more than 650 airports in the United States, nearly 70% of which rely on these airlines to provide their only means of scheduled air transportation. As such, regional carriers provide a critical and unparalleled economic development tool for hundreds of local communities across the country; literally from Presque Isle (Maine) to Anacortes (Washington).  

The advent of small-capacity 30- to 90-seat jets in recent years has produced new, competitive, nonstop air service options at hundreds of communities and on thousands of routes, all of which lacked any real consumer choice were it not for regional airlines. Today, passengers can fly from their most convenient local airport to virtually any city on the globe - with only one or two stops - on a growing variety of airline brands.

At key US hub airports, the number of flights provided by regional carriers can easily reach hundreds per day. Often times, this service includes both the first-ever and only means of nonstop schedules to small and medium-sized communities - generally, within a 1,000-mile circumference - as well as supplementary nonstop flights on routes also served my major airline partners.

Nearly all of the largest regional airlines operating today have their antecedents in companies established decades ago; indicative of an entrepreneurial spirit that still characterizes the sector today. While their names may have changed over time, the dedication to providing safe, reliable, cost-effective air transportation remains a hallmark of the sector. The more than 60,000 industry professionals employed by U.S. regional carriers represent the very heart and soul of the industry.


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Regional aviation veteran Doug Abbey is a Senior Vice President at Seabury Group with particular expertise in regional aviation and North American route-development strategies. His nearly 25-year association with RAA produced a body of research that are used today by the FAA as the basis for its annual forecasts of activity.  Doug can be contacted at dabbey@seaburygroup.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it