PSA RECALLS... Piedmont is furloughing 20 and downgrading about 10 pilots this month and cutting 11 Dash 8s by the years end with 7 times more furloughs and downgrades to come! With Mainline US Airways pilot's grievance concerning the size of US Express fleet and the fact that Piedmont's 11 Dash8 leases are up... it is most convenient for mainline to cut the inexpensive 11 Dash 8s and operate the more expensive CRJ on short flights such as CLT to AVL or FLO for example. In the long run however it is not even close to economical. Since US Air can't reduce the fleets of it's contract carriers such as Mesa, Air Wisconsin, Republic, Colgan, and so on (which is what mainline pilots wanted in their grievance in the first place) they are simply putting a band-aid on the situation by reducing A/C in the fleet who's leases are coming up immediately. (Piedmont Dash8s) However I am sure US Air Management wishes it were the 35 PSA CRJ 200s that were being cut instead.
Don't expect to see an increase in US Air's profitability, on-time performance, and flight completions. It just won't happen. Sadly the recalls of PSA pilots has nothing to do with an economy turning around. PSA has three groups to thank for their recalls... Furloughed and Downgraded Piedmont Pilots, Mainline Pilots Grievance Committee, and Blind US Airways Management. Why does US Airways make no attempt to renegotiate contracts with contract carriers before cutting it's own workforce?