ISSUE FOUR / WINTER 2022
THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF
REGIONAL AIRCRAFT
Contributor: Courtney Miller, Founder and Managing Partner of Visual Approach 2017 was a different time. Barely five years past, the intense competition for the business passenger seems a story for a bygone era. In the world’s largest market, the fight amongst the U.S. network airlines was for the high yield passenger. Increasing connectivity brought new corporate accounts, higher fares, and increased profitability. There was no better place to find these advantages than in the regional networks. REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY SURVIVES AND THRIVES In April of 2017, United Airlines made a decisive move to increase its competitive network by adding 65 50-seat CRJ200 aircraft from Air Wisconsin to its United Express fleet. Contrary to the longexpected sunset of the 50-seat jet, the ability for the aircraft to increase connectivity through United’s Chicago and Washington D.C. hubs proved critical in the fight for the business passenger. The fight for the business passenger, network connectivity, and higher fares reached a fever pitch.
20 | MHIRJ WINGSPAN
Of course, March 2020 changed everything. The idea of optimizing revenue on full aircraft gave way to empty seats and a scramble to save costs. Even as the first signs of the recovery started to appear in Summer 2020, the business traveler was nowhere to be found. Leisure travel ruled the skies, and the airline networks adjusted quickly to accommodate. Today, regional connectivity continues, even without the highly sought-for business passenger who so demanded the service. It is through the lens of connectivity, and the competitive advantages which were once so highly sought, that we assess the impact of the regional aircraft through the drastic changes of the pandemic.
Beyond the fact that regional aviation was able to maintain connectivity during the most difficult times, and even though we are in an early recovery phase today, we now look to the future, and how regional aviation is expected to, once again, become the competitive differentiator in the United States.
