how about this: yesterday, the Piedmont Captain of Flight 4255 told a few of us that while he was in CLT the other day, Douglas Parker was talking about ordering the DASH-8-400Q for a number of the routes now done by the RJs. We were told that the DASH-8-400Q is a passenger-friendly aircraft.
A PDT Captain would be the absolute last person to know if we were ordering Q400s.
The US Airways Regional has flown through four decades of change. It confronts more following the merger of US Airways and America West Airlines.
By Sandra Arnoult
Salisbury, MD
Air Transport World, November 2005, p.77
You can say this about Piedmont Airlines: It is a company with staying power. Since its formation in 1931 it has changed names, ownership, aircraft and location, yet still it lives today as a wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways operating in the Major's Express network.
That resilience will serve Piedmont well as it confronts the possibility of still more change ahead after US Airways' merger with America West Airlines in late September.
Founded by the late Richard "Dick" Henson, a test pilot for Fairchild Aircraft and one of the legends of the Regional airline industry, Piedmont began its life in Hagerstown, Md., as Henson Aviation, an FBO, and did not launch scheduled service until 1962, connecting the small city in the western part of the state to Washington National Airport, a journey of perhaps 90 mi. In 1967, Henson joined with US Airways' predecessor, Allegheny Airlines, in the nation's first codeshare relationship. It also became the first member of the Allegheny Commuter system created to provide service in markets too small to be served by the larger jets entering fleets at the time.
Dick Henson made history of another kind in 1983 when he agreed to sell his company to another fast-growing carrier, Charlotte-based Piedmont Airlines. Henson Airlines left the Allegheny network to become the first Piedmont Commuter and reprise its role as a feeder. But what goes around comes around, and when US Airways acquired Piedmont in 1987, Henson Airlines returned with it and became part of the US Airways Express network. It was renamed Piedmont in the early 1990s to preserve the name and protect US Airways' continued use of the brand.
Whether as Henson, Allegheny Commuter, The Piedmont Regional Airline or US Airways Express, the carrier's mission hasn't changed that much over nearly four decades. "Our real role is to feed US Airways hubs," says President and CEO Steve Farrow at the airline's headquarters on Maryland's storied Eastern Shore. "We pretty much fly where US Airways thinks makes sense to us." That means predominately feeding its partner's hubs at Philadelphia (30%), Charlotte (30%), LaGuardia (15%) and Pittsburgh (10%). To do this, it operates 485 daily departures to 74 destinations with a fleet of 56 Dash 8s and some 3,900 employees.
That is not expected to change with the merger, at least not initially although there is always the possibility of adjustments. The new US Airways has said that it will retain major hubs in Charlotte, Phoenix and Philadelphia, with secondary hub/focus cities at Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, New York LaGuardia and Reagan Washington National Airport. It also specifically noted that Piedmont and another Regional subsidiary, PSA, will continue to operate in the US Airways Express network. "Obviously Regional feed is a big part of our operation and will continue to be as we move forward with the new merged airline," says US Airways spokesperson Phil Gee.
Until last year, a third wholly owned Regional operated under the name Allegheny, but it was merged into Piedmont. "There was redundancy," explains a spokesperson. "They both flew Dash 8s." In combination, the airlines carried about 3.9 million passengers last year and flew 732.9 million RPMs, achieving a load factor of 55.5%.
Prop Fan
Although a member of the US Airways family for close to 20 years, Piedmont has not been tapped to fly regional jets, a role performed by PSA as well as contract carriers such as Chautauqua Airlines. This leaves Piedmont with a large turboprop fleet and slim chances of ever operating RJs, but Farrow doesn't express any regrets. "You always want to operate new aircraft, but I really don't think you want to overlook the value of turboprops," he says. He notes that Piedmont enjoys the benefit of commonality because all of its aircraft, a mix of Dash 8-100/-200/-300 types, belong to the same family. "Years ago when I came here we had three aircraft typesBeech 99, Shorts 330 and the Dash 8. It was an absolute monster. Pilots would get checked out in one aircraft, they would get the seniority and they would upgrade to something else."
As for the Dash 8s, "We use them interchangeably. A pilot can have his first flight in a dash 100, his second in a dash 200 and his third in a dash 300. All of the pilots and flight attendants are qualified for all three aircraft. There is a lot of cost in mixed fleets. The schedule we fly now is high utilization, now about 10.5 hours. The average stage length is about one hour ten minutes."
Farrow is convinced of the enduring value of turboprops despite the industry's current infatuation with regional jets. "When RJs first came out, a lot of studies said passengers preferred them to turboprops. I'm not sure if that is as valid as people thought," he opines. "If you offer people frequency, if you offer reliable service and if you get them there with their bags, I really don't think it makes a great deal of difference."
Besides, he points out, there always will be some markets that are unsuitable for RJ service. "As long as you have a hub-and-spoke arrangement, there are some spokes that don't make economic sense with an RJ. As long as you have short legs, you will have turboprops. They also make sense for some slightly longer legs because of the economics involved, particularly in a high fuel environment."
Within the US Airways Express system, the increase in RJ flying had a profound impact on turboprop operations. But, Farrow says, "There is still more turboprop flying today than people would have said there would be five years ago. Some thought turboprops would be dinosaursextinct."
Wish List
While he doesn't long for RJs, he admits to eyeing the Q400 wistfully. "We've had demonstrations and we are impressed with it," he says. "I think [Q400 customer] Horizon Air has done very well. But they have longer stage lengths, different geography. They've been very pleased."
In terms of career paths, Regionals used to be the training ground for Major airline pilots, but since 9/11 hiring by legacy passenger carriers has been at a standstill. However, there is competition from other Regionals that have been growing and adding aircraft, and from package carriers such as DHL and UPS. Some Piedmont pilots have moved on to low-cost carriers like AirTran or JetBlue. But this year the pilot attrition rate is at 27% compared to 38% in 2004. "We've had a lot of people come here and stay for a variety of reasons. Allegheny was the same way. We have lots of experienced pilots," Farrow says. Recently, a pilot retired after 30 years with the company, he notes.
Bringing new pilots onboard has changed, though. "Years ago, you were getting 3,000-4,000-hour pilots who had been flying FBO, corporate or as flight instructors. There are not nearly the number of those pilots looking for jobsat least not here." Meanwhile, the aviation programs at North Dakota and Purdue universities have provided a consistently good pool of pilot applicants, he says. "We've worked with them for some time and are very satisfied. The Purdue program is not as big in terms of numbers but very good quality graduates."
While the business has changed, the mission stays the same for Piedmont Airlines: To provide high-quality connecting service essential to the mainline carrier. "Our biggest challenge and our stock in trade is to fly the best operational product that we can," Farrow says.
