Regional airlines began by operating propellor-driven equipment over short routes, sometimes on stages of less than 100 miles in length.
Some examples of the original regional airlines sanctioned by the Civil Aeronautics Board in the 1940's and 1950's include:
In the early 21st Century, regional airlines vary in ownership from being independent companies to being wholly owned subsidiaries of major trunk carriers such as American Airlines, USAirways, or Continental Airlines. Their aircraft frequently are painted in the same color scheme as the airline whose flights they support, and they exist primarily to feed passengers from smaller towns to a major airline's hub. Current regional airlines have a reputation for flying small, uncomfortable, loud and slow propellor aircraft, but many of these companies are upgrading their fleets to 30, 40, 50, and 70 passenger regional jets.