JohnnyBoythePilot

I'm an aspiring pilot and aviation has been my passion my whole life. Along with flying (both real-world and in FSX), I also love designing my own airplanes, and I run a fictional aviation empire known as "Rainier Aviation Group", which includes multiple subsidiaries that specialize in their respective sub-fields of the aviation industry.

Update on Rainier Air Scheduled Operations Restart

Rainier Air is planning on restarting scheduled operations by summer of 2021, focusing on the pacific northwest, southwest, and rocky mountain region markets with an all-premium economy service. Due to circumstances in passenger demand and the used aircraft market caused by the pandemic, Rainier Air will fly with a renewed focus on secondary airports & routes flying more with regional aircraft. The MD-80 series will still be flown as originally planned but not to the same extent that was planned before the pandemic and temporary shutdown in early 2020. Because of the pandemic and airlines retiring older aircraft earlier, Rainier Air will be able to acquire and use the Boeing 717-200 as the backbone of fleet operations, operating primarily on medium-demand routes. The MD-80 series will be reserved for high-demand & longer-ranged flights. After exhaustive comparison and research for the best regional aircraft under 100 seats for low-demand thin routes, where the Embraer ERJ and De Havilland Dash-8 families of aircraft were under series consideration, it has been decided that both aircraft will be utilized by Rainier Air. Both aircraft have their strong points and work better on certain routes where the other might not do as well, so both will be utilized. Original plans to operate Fokker F70 and F100 jets have been completely abandoned. Dash-8's will operate on shorter routes while ERJ's while work the longer routes that are too thin for the 717. The Boeing 757 is still under consideration for future ETOPS flights to and from Hawaii, and for possible long-distance Alaska flights that are too long for the MD-80.