PSA Airlines
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1980 (as Vee Neal Airlines) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 1995 | ||||||
| AOC # | VNAA111A | ||||||
| Hubs |
As American Eagle: Charlotte Douglas International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities |
As American Eagle: Philadelphia International Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | AAdvantage | ||||||
| Alliance |
Star Alliance (affiliate; 2004-2014) Oneworld (affiliate; 2014-present) | ||||||
| Fleet size | 132 | ||||||
| Destinations | 69 | ||||||
| Parent company | American Airlines Group | ||||||
| Headquarters | Vandalia, Ohio | ||||||
| Key people | Dion Flannery [1] | ||||||
| Employees | 2,400+ (2015) | ||||||
| Website |
www | ||||||
PSA Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio,[2] that flies under the American Eagle brand for American Airlines. PSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group.
PSA Airlines operates an all-jet fleet consisting of exclusively Bombardier regional jet aircraft. The company has a team of more than 3,900 employees, operating more than 800 daily flights to nearly 100 destinations on behalf of American Airlines.
Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, PSA also has flight crew bases located in Cincinnati, Ohio; Knoxville, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Norfolk, Virginia.
PSA has maintenance facilities in Akron-Canton Airport (CAK), Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT) Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP), Norfolk International Airport (ORF), Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), Pensacola International Airport (PNS) and Dayton International Airport (DAY).
PSA operates 35 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft, 43 Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft and 54 Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft. The airline expects to add additional aircraft bringing its fleet count to 150.
History
Vee Neal Airlines
Named after its owner Vee Neal Frey, Vee Neal Airlines was established in 1979 and began initial operations from Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In May 1980, the operation was expanded to include scheduled air services between Latrobe and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a Cessna 402.[3]
Jetstream International Airlines
Between June 1980 and 1982, Henry Fish and a John P. Leemhuis lobbied civic and business leaders in the Erie, Pennsylvania area to raise venture capital to expand Vee Neal Airlines. After receiving financing, six British Aerospace Jetstream 31 aircraft were ordered to fashion a route system that would ensure air service links on a nonstop basis to key cities. In December 1983, the airline was renamed to Jetstream International Airlines (JIA) after it took delivery of its first two Jetstream aircraft. Within a year of renaming the airline, it relocated its maintenance department and corporate headquarters from Latrobe to Erie, Pennsylvania.
In September 1985, the airline affiliated itself with Piedmont Airlines. Jetstream International Airlines was acquired by Piedmont Airlines in August 1986 and became a wholly owned subsidiary shortly thereafter. In 1987, Jetstream once again moved its corporate headquarters to Dayton, Ohio and established maintenance bases in Dayton and Hagerstown, Maryland.
Following the USAir acquisition of Piedmont in November 1987, JIA began operating as Allegheny Commuter from the USAir hub in Philadelphia. In July 1988, JIA became a wholly owned subsidiary of USAir and operated in the colors of US Air Express, later US Airways Express. In 1989, JIA began feeder service to USAir's Indianapolis hub and moved the maintenance base in Hagerstown to Indianapolis in 1990. This maintenance base was closed in May 1994 in conjunction with a further shift of flying to USAir's Pittsburgh hub.[3]
PSA Airlines
In November 1995, USAir renamed Jetstream International Airlines to PSA Airlines in order to protect the trademark of Pacific Southwest Airlines, which was once a large carrier on the West Coast that USAir had acquired. Later in that month, PSA also moved its corporate headquarters to Vandalia, Ohio. By March 1996, all of Jetstream International Airlines' namesake Jetstream 31 aircraft had been replaced and the airline had transitioned to a fleet of Dornier 328 aircraft. In February 1997, USAir changed its name to US Airways and PSA began operating under the US Airways Express brand.
In August 2002, US Airways Group, Inc. and its subsidiary, PSA airlines, filed voluntary petitions for reorganization, under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. PSA emerged from Chapter 11 on March 31, 2003. As a result of its emergence from Chapter 11, PSA Airlines was chosen for placement of Bombardier CRJ-200 and Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft. In September 2004, the last Dornier 328 was retired from the PSA fleet.
In April 2004, a new crew base was opened in Philadelphia while the crew bases in Akron and Pittsburgh were later closed in November 2004. A new maintenance base was opened in Philadelphia in September 2004 and another in Charlotte, North Carolina was opened in January 2005, replacing the Pittsburgh maintenance base. In February 2005, PSA opened its Charlotte crew base.
In September 2004, US Airways Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries (including PSA) for the second time filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. US Airways and its subsidiaries emerged from Chapter 11 and the America West Airlines/US Airways merger was officially made final on September 27, 2005. The recently opened Philadelphia crew and maintenance bases also closed in September 2005.
In January 2008, US Airways flight activity at the Pittsburgh International Airport was significantly reduced due to market condition changes. US Airways mainline employees took over the US Airways Express flight operations at the airport and PSA ceased providing ground handling services at the airport.[3]
In August 2015, PSA Airlines announced a maintenance base would be established at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.[4]
In August 2016, PSA Airlines announced a new 45,000 square foot maintenance base would be opening in the later part of 2016 at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (KGSP).[5]
Fleet
As of September 2018, the PSA Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[6]
| Type | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Bombardier CRJ-200 | 35 | — | — | — | 50 | 50 | |
| Bombardier CRJ-700 | 43 | 19 | |||||
| 9 | 8 | 48 | 65 | Transfer of remaining CRJ-700s from Envoy Air at a rate of two per month. | |||
| 9 | 8 | 46 | 63 | ||||
| Bombardier CRJ-900 | 54 | 15 | 12 | 32 | 32 | 76 | Additional option for 15[7] |
| Total | 132 | 34 | |||||
In September 2013, PSA Airlines' pilots ratified tentative agreements with the managements of PSA Airlines and its parent company, US Airways Group Inc., that guaranteed the placement of 30 large regional jets at PSA.[8] In December 2013, American Airlines announced that it had ordered 30 Bombardier CRJ900 jets and was assigning them to PSA Airlines. The airline began taking deliveries of them in the second quarter of 2014 to finish initial delivery in 2015. In addition, American acquired options to purchase up to 40 additional CRJ900 aircraft scheduled to be delivered in the years 2015 through 2016.[9]
Crew bases
As of May 1, 2018, PSA Airlines uses the following airports as crew member domiciles:
Accidents and incidents
- PSA Airlines Flight 2495 (US2495/JIA2495), a Bombardier CRJ-200 (registered N246PS) overran the runway at Yeager Airport, Charleston, West Virginia on 19 January 2010. This was caused by a rejected take-off. The aircraft was stopped by the engineered materials arrestor system (EMAS)at the end of the runway, sustaining substantial damage to its undercarriage.[10] No one was injured as a result of the accident.
References
- ↑ "Our Leadership Team". PSA Airlines. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
- ↑ "Home." PSA Airlines. Retrieved on 20 May 2009. "3400 Terminal Dr., Vandalia, Ohio 45377"
- 1 2 3 "PSA Airlines Company History". psaairlines.com. August 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 13, 2006. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ↑ "PSA Airlines putting maintenance facility at CVG". August 5, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ↑ "PSA Airlines To Open New Maintenance Facility At Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport". Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ↑ "PSA Airlines". ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ↑ "American Splits $1.4 Billion Jet Buy Between Bombardier, Embraer". May 3, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ↑ "PSA Airlines' pilots ratify a new contract, airline to receive 30 large regional jets". worldairlinenews.com. September 28, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ↑ "New Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen and Embraer E175 Aircraft Will Replace Smaller, Less Efficient Regional Jets". American Airlines Press Release. December 12, 2013. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
- ↑ "Accident: PSA Airlines CRJ2 at Charleston on Jan 19th 2010, overran runway on takeoff". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2010.