RegionsAir resumes local flights

RegionsAir Inc. resumed operating in and out of Cape Girardeau Sunday, a day after the airline canceled flights following Federal Aviation Administration concerns about the carrier's pilot training policy.

The regional air carrier released a statement late Saturday night announcing it intended to resume most flights in the St. Louis system Sunday, with Cleveland services resuming early this week.

The flights were grounded after the FAA questioned a section of the RegionsAir manual outlining the training of its line check airmen.

"We have satisfied the request of the FAA to update our manual covering line check airmen, and we are returning aircraft and crews to our AmericanConnection network," said Nathan Vallier, director of sales and marketing for the carrier.

"By Thursday or Friday of this week, everything should be back to normal," he said.

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Bruce Loy said Sunday's two scheduled flights arrived at the airport Sunday but were late. The 1 p.m. flight was about two hours behind, and the 5:45 p.m. flight arrived about an hour late.

"It's too bad we had to go through this," he said. "We were of the understanding that it would last a lot longer than it did, but we're certainly happy to report things are back to normal."

In a written statement, RegionsAir apologized to its customers for any travel interruptions.

Loy said he expects all flights arriving and departing from Cape Girardeau Regional Airport would be on schedule, but advised travelers to call the airline ahead of time to confirm flight schedules.

AmericanConnection customers are asked to call (800) 433-7300 to confirm travel times.

The line check airmen are the certified inspectors who fly alongside a pilot during certification and evaluate the pilot's competence. One section of the RegionsAir manual, outlining the training of its line check airmen, is more than 10 years old and didn't appear to meet the FAA guidelines, said RegionsAir CEO Doug Caldwell.

Caldwell said the discrepancy is small and technical but would result in fines if not corrected.

More than two-thirds of RegionsAir pilots were legitimate to fly regardless of the FAA's concerns, and the remaining crew members will be re-qualified by this week, Vallier said.

"There was nothing we did wrong because the FAA had already approved our manual," Vallier said. "What we think happened was somebody new happened to be thrown into the mix, decided to take a magnifying glass to our manual and found a typo 10 years later."

Staff writer TJ Greaney contributed to this report.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

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