PSA "Latest & Greatest"
 

I know some people have been requesting a new thread due to varies problems with the current one. Here are the latest rumors that have been posted on a different forum (keyword rumors) so don't shoot the messager:

1) The big one I've heard a few times now... PHL will be the next base to open Spring 2018. Coincides with AWAC pulling out. And rumor has it PDT is stretched as it is right now and will not be able to pick up the extra lift. Along with the PHL rumor, I have heard that CVG will either be drastically shrunk or perhaps done away with altogether to staff PHL sometime in 2018. I've heard PHL mentioned by 2 CPs now as a "focus city". Exactly what CVG and DCA were before they were announced.

2) DFW flying will begin in May. This is one I'm hoping we will hear some confirmation on in the near future. No DFW overnights, just turns to the cities we already overnight in. I was told that most of this flying will be done by TYS and CLT crews on 700s.

3) Confirmed that we will be doing some turns to Georgetown on the Bahama island of Exuma (MYEF). What I heard was 1 turn every Saturday for the summer. So perhaps you may be on one of the crews who gets to do one of these... Also, I keep hearing the Turks and Caicos rumor. Georgetown is about halfway between Freeport and Turks and Caicos. That being said, if we start dipping down that far into the Caribbean, I don't see any reason why we would be able to do other destinations down there. Biggest limiting factor with doing some places would be duty and rest limitations. Turks and Caicos is already a pretty far stretch out of CLT.

4) Grand Rapids, SD overnight added. Also a very long flight. I was told that would probably be, "just about as far West as PSA really ever goes for the next couple years".

5) Rumors of some more FL overnights to be flown seasonally out of CLT. KEYW, KTPA, and KFLL were on the list.

6) Looking out towards 4Q 2018 or 1Q 2019 another hub base is a possibility. If we can manage to take delivery of all 35 700s from Envoy, an ORD base is "still a possibility". A lot of that lift will be picked up by SkyWest, but there is still a lot to be done that they can't cover. I've also heard the remote possibility of a DFW base floated. Both ORD and DFW may just depend on what happens at Mesa this year though. The speculation I've heard was that Envoy pulls their 145s out of ORD entirely and moves them along with the 175s to DFW and LAX to over Mesa and perhaps Compass making room for PSA to maintain a WO presence in ORD with the 700s. This also would make sense if CVG were closing to open PHL because 35 700s is enough to spread out amongst more than just DCA and PHL. DFW I consider to be a very remote possibility although I personally would welcome it over ORD.

...Still the possibility of more airplanes looking out to 2019 and beyond (basically an eternity in this industry). Our ability to not only grow but sustain a fleet of 150 aircraft will dictate more flying. Although I think we will certainly see some regionals merge and shrink or perhaps fail altogether. AWAC providing lift for UA was a big surprise to many of us and shows that the 50-seater isn't dead by any means. So that what I've got. Spread it, shred it, or do what you will with it.

Well, we are starting this page out with a lot of rumors already. We'll see how many are true. My guess is very few.

Dion said a new base isn't out of the question, but we need to hire probably 400 pilots and take 35 airplanes just to fill DCA. I'm not even sure that will be possible unless we raise pay and benefits again (which I hope we do).

The island flying really isn't that much fun. It is cool the first couple times, and just a haste after that.

The next CRJ700 will be here in about 2 weeks, and be in revenue service probably a month or so afterwards and we should receive about 10 total this year.

Also, heard fairly good rumors that all of our 67 seat 700s are having 2 seats removed for "scope reasons", which means it will be technically possible for us to take more 900s.

Management has mentioned a couple DFW turns in the past. Currently, other airlines are doing those out of our bases. I can not imagine us ever having a base there. That would be ridiculous to say the least.

Skywest has ORD pretty well covered now. We would need another 50 planes past the 35 that are already coming just to cover the ORD flying. That is doubtful.

The flights that TSA are flying out of DCA are temporary. They are covering AWACs old flying until we can get the additional airplanes on property and enough pilots hired. Expect DCA to have 100 lines of flying in a years time (maybe 18 months).

DCA Reserve
 

Hi PSA Help. I think you said something earlier about DCA Reserve time? Do you still think someone could hold a line there after training? Thanks, just trying to make a decision.

According to the results TallFlyer posted in the old forum for the most recent bid, DCA is the most junior base with guys holding a R1 line pretty quickly out of training. Time will only tell if that will be the case in future bids. DCA can be a pretty easy commute so it might become popular with FOs, but it does have a high cost of living.

Rumor #1 seems to be prevalent. All others I have not heard of. If PDT cannot staff the flying I don't think we will be able to, either. We already have enough problems getting people to take on DCA. Unless some major COLA provisions are made for high cost places like DCA and the like, there will not be growth commensurate with what the company wants. Also, I'd like to see how the removal of EAS will affect these wonderful (sarcasm intended) places that we service (i.e., CRW, GSO, et. al.).

Seriously another L & G thread.
How many do we need?

Not following you on the EAS comment. PSA doesn't do any EAS routes. If anything EAS going away would only serve to increase traffic at somewhere like CRW(CKB traffic would drive there).

I really, really hope so. I want my SAP back!

I'd love to have more island flying. I'd just can't see us doing T&C. It's currently a 175 Republic route that could easily be replaced by Envoy getting their base back. Are we even authorized for overwater flights beyond 50nm?? I thought Republic is the only regional that holds that authorization?

I'd also love for Canada to finally happen.... But it seems that won't happen anytime remotely soon, if ever.

DFW would be awesome as it's only a 30 min flight and has almost 10 flights a day from my home. However, I see ORD happening WAY before DFW.

Upgrades
 

Recently we have been upgrading 26 people per month. For April that number is increasing to 28 as per the CA announcement we got this morning. Hopefully this keeps up!