Buffalo, New York- August 5, 2009 – The ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ applauded Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) for following through on his promise of bringing airline executives from both regional and parent carriers before his subcommittee in the aftermath of the tragedy of Continental Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air.
The hearing, to be held in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building, will be held at 10 am on August 7th, and will feature executives from Delta, American Eagle, and most importantly, Continental and Pinnacle, who partnered in the February 12th disaster. Pinnacle, the parent corporation of Colgan Air, will be represented by its president and CEO, Philip Trenary.
“Obviously it is hard not to be frustrated with Pinnacle’s approach to managing Colgan as well as Continental outsourcing its flights to Colgan and not paying attention to what was happening with that airline. Serious shortcuts were taken, and we are left here without our loved ones, paying the ultimate price for it,” declared John Kausner of Clarence Center, New York, who lost his 24 year old daughter Elly just a quarter mile away from his family’s home. “But the most important thing is that we get to the bottom of why this happened, and tighten up the operation of regional airlines so that this does not happen to another group of families. We are looking forward to being in attendance at this important hearing.”
The hearing, entitled “Aviation Safety: The Relationship Between Network Airlines and Regional Airlines,” looks to examine the code share agreements between parent and regional carriers, and the nature of the involvement with, and oversight of, the regional carriers by their major partners. It will be the third aviation safety hearing held by Senator Dorgan this summer to examine the factors contributing to the crash.
“Senator Dorgan has been all over this issue since he met with us back in May,” added Kausner, “and any legislative action taken to address these issues will be a direct result of his persistence and refusal to take no for an answer from both the airlines and the pilots. We couldn’t be more appreciative of his efforts to make sure that our loved ones didn’t die in vain.”