We didn't purchase ALG (US Airways owned all 3 or 4 if you want PSA/ALG/PDT/MidAtlantic) we just basically took over there operation. PDT merged the pilot and FA Groups straight date of Hire.
And now we have proceeded to go from about 110 Dash 8's to about 44 in a short 6 years.
So do you see a trend here?
Heyas Surf,
The trend has been a long one...very easy to follow:
When I got hired by Henson, they had 50 some odd DHC-8s, plus the five DHC-7s. Bases from TPA to SBY, paid insurance, an A fund and hot crew meals.
ALG had Dashes, 1900s and Shorts. PSA flew Jetstreams exclusively. None of the contract operators flew anything larger than a Metro or 1900.
The first shot was giving a lions share of the FL market to FloridaGoof (AKA Mesa). From there, it was a downhill sleigh ride. Had you told me ORF and JAX would be abandoned, but EWN would still be a crew base, I'd laugh in your face.
But don't worry...in 1995, the MEC told me that a flow through was "imminent", and and in 1996 those RJs that Mesa just bought had nothing to do with the USAir operation, and that if USAir ever bought RJs, PDT would be the operator because Rei T already had the AQP training program in place.
The only good thing that ever happened to PDT after Dicky left was that they still only pay $1 a year for the hangar in SBY, and we got to operate some Dashes with APU bleeds that worked in FL for a little while (the -200s...but OOPS, we traded out 100s that went to ALG).
USAir has no interest in growing PDT, or having them operate anything other than essential, short term feed while contract operators who can't get the sh!t together get scolded for their crappy performance.
Ditto for Comair.
Those two outfits remain solely for the purpose of schedule reliability, because contract operators stink.
Nu