Annual Report - RAA

Forewordfrom RAA PresidentRoger Cohen“Tough times don’t last, but tough people do”Dear RAA Members and Friends,That cliché has been attributed to, among others, author Norman Vincent Peale, actor Gregory Peck,televangelist Robert Schuller – and probably half the high school football coaches in the country.But that quote rings so true today. Whoever thought we’d look back nostagically on the Summer of 2007 – when it seemed the biggest challenges wefaced were the shortage of pilots and the crazy perception that regional aircraft were somehow the cause of ATC delays.Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have those “challenges” again since in less than one year’s time, skyrocketing fuel costs have triggered a set of opposite,more painful, problems: grounded airplanes, and even some whole airlines. Thousands of skilled airline professionals, many the same people we workedso hard to recruit and train last summer, suddenly out of work. Hundreds of communities with fewer flight choices, including dozens left with noscheduled service at all.But history also shows that in the toughest times, there’s an even greater need for industry unity, for sharing scarce resources and fighting commonproblems collaboratively. That’s why RAA is proud of what we’ve been able to achieve for our members during this year, perhaps as difficult a period forour airlines since RAA’s inception in 1975.• While Congress agreed on precious little, members in both parties and both chambers endorsed nearly unanimously the RAA principles of protectingaffordable, convenient service to the 70 percent of American communities relying on regional service exclusively for scheduled flights. The latest FAAreauthorization measures reflected RAA’s strategic goals: no new “user fees” on regionals, but corporate aviation must pay more for its growing useof the nation’s airports and airways.• RAA greatly expanded and improved its core member services, adding a full-time professional to knock on doors — and sometimes knock heads — atTSA. RAA’s team also stepped up to the growing complexity of environmental regulations, while continuing to represent our members on the laundrylist of issues facing members in Congress, at DOT and FAA.• We made good on our promise to bring RAA’s communications into the 21 st Century, so that our key constituencies — member airlines, AssociateMembers, government officials and the nation’s news media — have easy access to the most current, accurate information through this AnnualReport, Regional Horizons magazine, and our overhauled, updated website. If www.raa.org isn’t your homepage now, please make sure it tops your“favorites” list.• Perhaps most importantly, through the unwavering support of our loyal sponsors and this year’s hometown Republic Airlines, we were able to deliverour biggest RAA Convention, ever. Even while fuel costs continued to rise, more airlines and more industry partners gathered in Indianapolis to sharetheir common bond, renew personal relationships and nurture the kind of friendships needed to survive and hopefully prosper in today’s new world.The “tough times” aren’t over – fuel costs remain unsustainable, the economy still struggles and as it heads out the door, ideologues in the BushAdministration continued to push congestion pricing and slot auction schemes aimed right at the heart of regional aviation. But the “tough people”who’ve built RAA and our member airlines over these past 30-plus years have faced tough times before, and we’re still standing strong and fightingharder than ever before. Maybe someday we’ll be able to look back nostalgically at even this summer, recalling how well we overcame these challenges.With your continued support, I’m confident these tough times will have, hopefully, a very short shelf life. Thanks again.RogerRAA 2008 Annual Report 3