U.S. airlines

Small Cities, Big Problems: America’s smaller towns and cities are suffering an epidemic of lost air service

U.S. airlines

Small Cities, Big Problems: America’s smaller towns and cities are suffering an epidemic of lost air service

February 2017

1 min read

Seth Kaplan

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Issue Overview

In the giant U.S. airline market, small planes play a big role. Just how big? Regional carriers—including those wholly owned by larger carriers— operate more than 40% of all U.S. commercial airline departures, carrying about a fifth of all U.S. passengers, according to the Regional Airline Association (RAA). That’s equivalent to about 160m passengers annually. At Chicago O’Hare, for example, more than half of all departing flights are on sub-100-seat aircraft flown by regional carriers. Some two-thirds of all commercial airports in the U.S., meanwhile, have no mainline service whatsoever—just regional planes.

Small Cities, Big Problems: America’s smaller towns and cities are suffering an epidemic of lost air service

Small Cities, Big Problems: America’s smaller towns and cities are suffering an epidemic of lost air service

Issue Overview

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