Faye Malarkey Black serves as President and CEO of the Regional Airline Association and has led the organization since February 2015. In her role, she leads an industry trade organization representing 18 North American regional airlines and 80 associate members. In the United States, RAA member airlines operate 40 percent of the flights, employ more than 59,000 individuals and provide the only source of scheduled, passenger air service to 66% of the nation’s airports.

Ms. Black oversees the daily operations of the Association, develops and executes its policy and business objectives and serves as the primary spokesperson for the regional airline industry. Ms. Black is dedicated to promoting and advancing safe, reliable air service to every corner of the country. As a lifelong advocate of small community air service, Ms. Black has successfully defended against attempts to dismantle the Essential Air Service program and raised national awareness of the growing global pilot and technician shortage and worked to secure important payroll supports to help maintain the ready status of the regional airline workforce during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under her leadership, the Association has built cross-industry coalitions and developed a new, collaborative approach to attracting and supporting the next generation of aviation professionals.

With more than two decades of experience in policy, strategic leadership, business development and management, Ms. Black has served the RAA since 1998 and was formerly Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. Ms. Black began her career in Pennsylvania, holding key positions for U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and in support of voter targeting and communications in the 1994 and 1996 Democratic Coordinated Campaigns. She later served as an executive at Smithbucklin Corporation, providing strategic planning advice to trade associations seeking to build effective advocacy programs and helping emerging businesses in developing democracies develop business support networks under a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) subcontract.

Ms. Black is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Commercial Airlines and was appointed to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Working Group on Small Community Air Service in 2017. She served on the Board of Governors of the Aero Club of Washington from 2014 to 2019 and as liaison to the Club’s charitable Foundation, which connects DC public and charter school students with aviation opportunities and financial support. In 2019, Ms. Black oversaw the launch of RAA’s 501(c)3 charitable foundation, expanding the reach of the Association’s scholarship program.

Ms. Black holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh. She resides in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.