PSA Pilots Win Rights To Fly CRJ900s

The pilots of US Airways regional subsidiary PSA Airlines ratified a letter of agreement in late September that grants them the right to fly thirty 76-seat Bombardier CRJ900s in return for several concessions in their Air Line Pilots Association collective bargaining agreement.

The ratification by PSA’s ALPA-represented group, consisting of 471 pilots based in Dayton, Ohio; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C., comes as a severe blow to American Airlines regional subsidiary American Eagle, which rejected a similar offer for the right to the 76-seat jets in return for a so-called B-scale pay formula for new-pilot hires. PSA would join Eagle as an American Airlines affiliate in the event of a merger between American and US Airways, the completion of which depends on a successful defense of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit scheduled to go to trial this month.