New regional jets heading home
Bombardiers due in Dayton
By Jason Roberson
[email protected]
MONTREAL | PSA Airlines Inc., the Dayton-based wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways Group Inc., received its first new 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet during ceremonies Tuesday at Bombardier Inc. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Dayton this afternoon and will enter service Dec. 14.
PSA will take delivery of 60 CRJ-200s as part of US Airways' regional jet order announced in May. Each jet costs an estimated $25 million, or roughly $1.5 billion for all 60 jets. The new fleet is scheduled to be in service by March 2005.
The first two jets arrive this week in Dayton and will undergo test flights before entering service in December. The airline operates under the name US Airways Express.
PSA’s fleet of 30 32-seat Dornier 328 turboprop aircraft will be phased out.
"PSA today begins its transition to an all-regional jet airline," said Dick Pfennig, PSA’s president and chief executive. "I am delighted for our company, our employees and our customers, and we are especially grateful for the commitment and support we have received from the city of Dayton."
The completion of PSA’s CRJ-200 deliveries will double the size of the carrier’s fleet, and passenger capacity will increase three-fold. PSA said the expansion will create more than 500 jobs companywide, including those for pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.
PSA employs 1,550, including 300 in Dayton. Pfennig said he expects to hire an additional 200 workers in Dayton by the end of 2004.
At the ceremony in Montreal, Bruce Ashby, president of US Airways Express, called the jet purchase a "historic milestone for US Airways Group."
During the 90-minute flight from Dayton to Montreal, Pfennig was joined by senior executives, union representatives and selected flight attendants.
At the hangar in Montreal, flight attendants toured the new aircraft, sat in the leather seats and shared favorable comments about such luxuries as foot rests for them and a modern coffee maker. Flight attendants Jane Hutchison and Jennifer Ankrom, both from Akron, took digital pictures of the cockpit and the bathroom.
As he glanced at the CRJ-200 for the first time Tuesday, Pfennig said, "You know I’ve seen this before and I’ve studied the pictures, but it looks a lot better now that I own it."
Contact Jason Roberson at 225-2446.
[From the Dayton Daily News: 10.29.2003]
