Premium – The Regional Airline Sector – Long-Term Trends and Short-Term Outlook

The regional airline sector has changed markedly over the last 37 years, but has stabilized in recent years. If we examine data in 5-year increments from 1980 to 2015, a number of trends are quite clear.  Let’s look at how this industry has changed since deregulation.

Number of Regional Carriers
The number of regional carriers has dropped from 247 in 1980 to 64 in 2015

, as shown in the chart below:

From an industry of turboprops to one using larger regional jets, the industry also grew dramatically during this period.