The Regional Airline Association elected new board officers for the 2014-15 term during its fall board meeting at Embraer’s Fort Lauderdale facility on November 20 and 21. Officers include chairman Brad Holt of ExpressJet, vice chairman Bryan Bedford of Republic Airways, treasurer Linda Markham of Cape Air and secretary Rick Leach of Trans States Holdings. The RAA also named Piedmont Airlines president Steve Farrow a member of the executive committee.

The board created a special CEO task force consisting of Bedford, Holt and Air Wisconsin president Jim Rankin and organized to help guide the association’s efforts toward addressing what it warns will become a pilot shortage due largely to new rules governing first-officer hiring requirements.

“It’s frustrating when there’s a need for new pilots, and thousands of young students are qualified to pursue this rewarding career [and] the goalposts have been moved, making it that much harder to become an airline pilot,” said RAA president Roger Cohen.