In the past few weeks we’ve been asked several times if airlines are charging lower fares in Springfield due to the presence of Southwest Airlines at the Branson airport (the airline began service there in March).

Missouri Senator Clair McCaskill says she's going to introduce a bill that will force the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow the use of electronic devices on airplanes — from take off to landing. Read the rest of the story from Politico.

Couple of things to talk about today; let’s begin with new policy from the TSA…

February 11, 2013

Our 2012 passenger numbers are in along with those from competing airports. We've double and triple checked our math and the news is good: our passenger numbers were up in 2012 — the upward movement bucks national and regional trends.

We've talked about it for the past year — the expected demise of the small regional jet (50 seats or less). Today we have another sign that bigger jets are on the way: Republic Airways will operate large regional jets for American Airlines. Read the story from the Dallas Morning News.

We got our first up-close look at an Embraer 190 yesterday (photo left). The 190 has been in production about 10 years but the airlines haven't used them for Springfield air service — that's probably going to change in the next couple of years — we fully expect to start seeing them on a regular basis. Here's what's going on...

It was just about six weeks ago that we told you about Allegiant's decision to "suspend" our service to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) beginning January 14. We're now pleased to say that Allegiant will bring the service back on June 7. So we'll be without the service for about six months. Why the suspension? Read on...

Last week's posting about the soon-to-be phasing out of regional jets prompted these comments and questions from SGFpilot:

Dear Mr. Jones (not his real name) —

I've got a bunch of tid-bits to share, none of which really deserve their own posting. Here they are, in no particular order...

I spent part of last week in Dallas at the International Aviation Forecast Summit. It's an annual event that includes airlines, airports, and aircraft manufacturers. Here are a few of the summit's insights:

REGIONAL JETS