Regional airlines are in the public consciousness lately in a way that usually only avgeeks think about them. This year, three high-profile aviation safety incidents involved regional jets: a fatal collision between an American Airlines/PSA Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.; a Delta Air Lines/Endeavor Air regional jet that flipped over just after touching down at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport, and another Delta/Endeavor Air regional jet that clipped its wing against the runway at LaGuardia International Airport in New York. On Monday, news broke that two major U.S. regional carriers, Republic Airways and Mesa Air Group, are planning to merge later this year. As a result, many travelers are taking a closer look at their airline tickets and wondering what, exactly, these regional carriers are. At the end of the day, they are regulated the same way as the mainline airlines (American, Alaska, Delta and United) that they're affiliated with, but that doesn't mean they're exactly the same. Story includes what to know.<br/>
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The head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic organization is stepping down after more than 35 years with the agency. Tim Arel, who is chief operating officer of the FAA Air Traffic Organization, has decided to take part in the USDOT’s voluntary deferred retirement program, sources told Reuters. Questions have been raised about why the agency did not address concerns about close calls between helicopters and airplanes near Reagan Washington National Airport before a Jan. 29 fatal collision between an American Airlines regional jet and Army helicopter killed 67.<br/>
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that he is still in talks with the White House on his plan to upgrade the aging, under-staffed U.S. air traffic control system after a series of high-profile safety incidents raised alarm. Duffy told reporters that he was working with the White House Office of Management and Budget and the office was reviewing his estimate. Duffy said last month that he planned to ask Congress for tens of billions of dollars for a multi-year effort to revamp Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control infrastructure and boost hiring. A persistent shortage of controllers has delayed flights and, at many facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks. Duffy did not give a date when he plans to release the plan and did not say how many workers have opted to voluntarily leave the Department of Transportation as part of President Donald Trump's effort to dramatically shrink the federal government. The FAA said last month it planned to hire 2,000 air traffic controller trainees this year. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and has about 10% fewer controllers than it did in 2012. Duffy wants to buy new radar systems and new air traffic control terminals as well as new runway safety technology so controllers do not need to rely on binoculars to see airplanes and to end the use of floppy disks and other ancient technology. In February, the U.S. aviation sector called for "robust emergency funding" from Congress for air traffic control technology and staffing after the January 29 collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional airliner that killed 67 people. In March 2024, then-president Joe Biden proposed to spend $8b over five years to replace or modernize more than 20 aging air traffic control facilities and 377 critical radar systems. A quarter of all FAA facilities are 50 years old or older.<br/>
The Army has made changes to how its helicopters use a safety system that broadcasts aircraft location and has reduced the number of flights over Washington following a collision with a passenger jet that killed 67 people, the head of Army aviation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Investigators are still determining why the Army helicopter and the American Airlines jet collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29, but the Federal Aviation Administration has data showing an alarming number of close calls around the airport. The safety system, called ADSB, short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, has become a flashpoint as some have pointed to the likely lack of use by the Black Hawk helicopter that night as a potential cause of the crash. The ADSB-out part of the system is designed to help air traffic controllers and nearby planes better track an aircraft’s location with position updates every second. But it can also allow anyone — including a plane enthusiast on the ground — know precisely where a helicopter or airplane is located. Army helicopters in the past have turned off the system for many missions because they were deemed sensitive. The Army’s head of aviation, Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, said there now will be fewer flights with the ADSB-out data turned off. And also fewer VIP flights In the months since the crash, the Army has halted the vast majority of flights it was conducting for general officers ranked three stars and above, to ferry them from the Pentagon’s helipad to regional locations. It has only resumed limited flights for the defense secretary, deputy defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while a limited number of other senior military leaders can fly from Virginia’s Fort Belvoir, Braman said.<br/>
Boeing delivered 41 jets in March, up from 29 during the same month a year ago, the company announced Tuesday, though the figure was slightly lower than the 45 handed over in January and 44 in February. Through the first three months of the year, Boeing delivered 130 jets, including 104 of its best-selling 737 MAX. That is up from just 83 jet deliveries, including 66 MAXs, during the first quarter of 2024. Boeing’s production and deliveries have been hampered in the last year by a labor strike, regulatory scrutiny and supply chain bottlenecks. An emerging trade war could further disrupt production. Key Boeing components supplier Howmet Aerospace highlighted the risk when it told customers that tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump could force it to halt some shipments. The company’s European rival Airbus delivered 71 airplanes in March and 136 jets during the first three months of the year. A shortage of jet engines from GE and Safran joint venture CFM International constrained deliveries, according to Airbus.<br/>
Airbus said on Tuesday it had signed a provisional deal with Amazon to provide connectivity to airlines via the tech giant’s planned Kuiper constellation of satellites. The plan to enhance Airbus’ High Bandwidth Connectivity Plus programme was announced at a major cabin interiors exhibition in Hamburg.<br/>
Embraer's CEO said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs would add complexity and costs for the Brazilian jet maker’s business and its U.S. customers. This month, Trump introduced a minimum of 10% duties for all U.S. imports, with targeted rates of up to 50% to help the U.S. recapture an industrial base that he says has withered over decades of trade liberalization. The tariffs led aerospace suppliers and planemakers to comb through contracts to check their exposure in an industry that had largely avoided such duties. Aside from an 18-month transatlantic tariff war over Airbus and Boeing subsidies in 2020 and 2021, the industry has broadly operated under a 1979 treaty on zero-duty trading in aerospace that includes the U.S. and Canada, but not Mexico. "We have to be realistic about these tariffs," Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto told an event in Sao Paulo. "If it continues like this, this will bring more complexity and costs to companies, including Embraer." Neto said he also sees the prospect for negotiations that could help remove tariffs on aviation. While Brazil faces a 10% tariff, U.S. importers of Embraer commercial and business jets would not pay that amount since their aircraft has high content from the U.S. which can be deducted from duties, Neto and industry sources said.<br/>