You can ask the PSA folks all the details of their SAP but it’s a program that allows them to drop/swap trips as a line holder. They can drop down to 65? Hours a month, move trips around to give large numbers of days off in a row and trade out low credit trips for higher credit trips.

Piedmont does not allow schedule flexibility of that nature. Plan on 4 days on and 2 days off with the occasional one day or three days off to bring you to 11 days off each month. Each trip credits 4hrs/ day on avg.

Long term, line holders at PSA who have SAP have a much better QOL than line holders at PDT.

CLT is a little bit of an enigma because it’s PSAs senior base in both seats and will take a while to be a line holder there (something like 9-12 months for FOs who are then forced upgrade to Captain in a junior outstation base once they hit 1000hrs and take until year 3 or so to be a line holder as a CA back in CLT- once again check with the PSA folks). Meanwhile PDT new hires can hold it before they’re complete with training and DECs are the junior captain in CLT at Piedmont. Also PDTs training center is in CLT so there are opportunities to leave line flying and still work in CLT.

The way things currently are, after three years on property a line holder at PSA in CLT will have a higher quality of life thanks to scheduling flexibility afforded by SAP. It remains to be seen how much the PSA operational presence in CLT will be decreasing after the 2018 meltdown and their 24 CRJ200s are removed from service. If AA decides to maintain status quo and simply upgauge the routes served by those 200s with the Envoy 700s PSA is getting or their new 900s then things may remain the same. If AA decides to give the rest of the 50 seat flying in CLT to PDT or bring in a third regional to cover lift, then It could take far longer than it does today to be a line holding CA in CLT able to take advantage of SAP.