Smaller planes, big questions: Why regional airlines are under the spotlight

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/>