Decades before the advent of jet airliners and high-speed, long-range air service, commercial aviation was structured similarly to rail transport networks.In this era, technological limitations on air navigation and propeller-driven aircraft performance imposed strict constraints on the potential length of each flight; some routes covered less than 100 miles (160 km).T-A-T's transcontinental "Lindbergh Line" became America's first contiguous coast-to-coast air service, and it ushered in a new era of major airlines expanding to operate networks with large footprints.[2] As flag carriers grew to fill the demand of long-range passenger traffic, new and small airlines found niches flying between short and under-served routes to-and-from major airports and more rural destinations.It is common in the U.S. to incorrectly associate aircraft size with the Department of Transportation's designation of major, national, and regional airline.Some of these newer aircraft are capable of flying longer distances with comfort levels that rival and surpass the regional airline equipment of the past.[citation needed] In the early 1990s, much more advanced turboprop-powered, fuel efficient, and passenger friendly DC-3 type replacement projects such as the 19 passenger Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector and the 34 seat Dornier 328 were undertaken, but met little financial success, partly due to economic downturn in the airline industry resulting from the outbreak of hostilities when Iraq invaded Kuwait.[5] On Feb 12th, 2010, a year after the crash of Colgan flight 3407, Frontline premiered its WGA Award-winning exposé on the industry entitled "Flying Cheap".In the program, reporter Miles O'Brien questioned how the impact of low salaries are having on pilot psyches and how safe this could be for the flying public.When asked to respond to the question, Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association,[6] told Frontline that, "...there are many other people who earn less money than that and work more days in these communities that can afford it and do it and do it responsibly.This vision failed to materialize due to its primary focus on rural mobility and a lack of clear and viable business case.[9] With the introduction of air taxi services and very light jets, city pair links to smaller communities lacking regional connections could become more common.[10] In some parts of the world, regional airlines face competition from high-speed rail and also coach (bus) services with airlines sometimes replacing feeder services through air rail alliances and contracts with bus companies (e.g., Landline between Philadelphia International Airport and Atlantic City International Airport).Some of them focus on Canadian Arctic and First Nations communities, while others operate regional flights on behalf of a larger carrier, similar to their American counterparts.For example, BA CityFlyer a regional subsidiary of British Airways uses the basic Chatham Dockyard Union Flag livery of its parent company and flies between domestic and European cities.To create a common tie and what appeared to be seamless to the air traveler, major carriers marketed in advertising and soon had much smaller airlines paint their small and what was often described as puddle-jumper aircraft, in the image and branding colors of the much larger mainline partner.
Typical seat map of a smaller
regional airliner
as is often flown by the regional airlines. The smallest aircraft flown under such brands and regional airlines may or may not have
lavatories
.
NLM
Fokker F.27 Friendship
wearing the basic mainline livery of
KLM Airlines
however wearing the initial titles of NLM at Groningen in 1967.
NLM
was set up as a KLM subsidiary from its founding and later evolved into
KLM Cityhopper
. In 1976
Cabin Staff
contractually won opportunity to be considered for KLM employment after a set period of commitment to NLM.
An
Aerospatiale Corvette
of
Air Alsace
at Brussels Airport in 1977. Much like
Air Alpes
, these aircraft fed regional and higher yielding traffic to
Air France
and were also one of the first companies to adopt the now common practice of taking on the branding livery of a much large company, namely Air France; who they operated in association with.
First year regional pilot pay as of Aug. 2011. Source: AirlinePilotCentral.com, an industry career site.
Cessna 402C of
Hyannis Air Service
– Cape Air
CityJet
is a European regional airline operating wet leased aircraft for of larger airlines. Like this CRJ900 operated for
Scandinavian Airlines
.