New PSA Paint Job

[flyslow24]

Anyone notice the new PSA paint job in CLT yesterday. Looks like someone was painting the jet bridges decided to give the airplanes a new look!

 

[ex j-41]

In ground school the other day we were told no airplanes are going to get painted (Cause i believe they want to trade them in on 900's). They way things work here is that someone will get a raise for the Jetway overspray.
Oh we were also told the pilot shortage is over cause management is having no problem hiring new pilots.
Question is with 8 pilots leaving a month...(Their numbers) and 68 J4J leaving by January...where are they going to find replacements? And this is before the hiring at United and Northwest. We are all in for a long December if they can't staff this airline.

 

[nethan]

Huh... I was in ground school this week. They must have decided that the pilot shortage was back on. JR told us (hahah) that we would be short until at least the Spring and if we get more airplanes it would be indefinitely. The paint thing... Apparently when the planes are 6 years old they will start to get painted. No idea where that number came from and why.

 

[BoilerUP]

What's the deal with you PSA guys getting -900s? Heard there are some up in YUL...but you know how crew room rumors are...

 

[Casper]

What's the deal with you PSA guys getting -900s? Heard there are some up in YUL...but you know how crew room rumors are...

We can't crew what we have so you can forget the 900 rumors, as for pilots leaving it is more like 20 per month on average and it will only get worse before it gets any better.

 

[Slick]

.......Oh we were also told the pilot shortage is over cause management is having no problem hiring new pilots.
quote]

GRRREEAATT!!! So we won't see anymore cancellations due to crew shortages! That's awsome!

 

[BoilerUP]

We can't crew what we have so you can forget the 900 rumors, as for pilots leaving it is more like 20 per month on average and it will only get worse before it gets any better.

I had heard trading 200s in for 900s - no growth and maybe even a net loss of airframes.

Like I said, crew room rumors...

 

[nethan]

That latest management propaganda I heard was mainline is in talks with Bombardier for a 100 aircraft order include 50 Q300 and Q400 and some CRJ900 or 1000s. All in house flying. There are scope issues for both the Q400s and the bigger CRJs so I don't see how it would work. Not to mention the fact that neither company has enough people to fly what they have now let alone more airplanes.

 

[BoilerUP]

With Mesa flying 900s and RAH flying 86 seat 175s, whats the BFD regarding scope with Q400s and 900s at the WOs?

 

[lindsaya99]

I don't think that we will be getting rid of 200s anytime soon. The airplanes are leased and we are pretty much stuck with them until well into the next decade (so says TK). Trading them in to Bombardier isn't an option because demand for them is almost non-existant. Maybe airlines in emerging markets in countries like China or India may eventually want them.
CRJ 700s actually make more sense to me than 900s considering the routes we currently have and the facilities we currently operate out of. Imagine trying to park half a dozen 900s on the southside of concorse E in CLT. The number of extra passengers alone would overwelm the boarding areas. Have fun trying to taxi with thirty exta feet of airplane sticking out into the alley. We would have similar problems in PHL and LGA. The larger size of the Q400s would also cause similar problems for Piedmont but that is for another discussion.
In the end, none of this really matters anyway. We don't even have a negotiated rate for the 900s. This is one thing I'm glad ALPA has dragged its feet on. Imagine if our MEC did get sign a LOA. Odds are it would undercut the Mainline E-190 rate. That would hinder the AAA Mec's ability to improve the pay rates on their contract. Personally, I would like to see more Embraer 190s go to mainline instead of Crj900s at PSA. I would also like to see a flowthrough agreement in place, and hotter F/As, and more money, better schedules, etc.... The problem is that nobody in a postion of authority listens to me.

 

[ex j-41]

hotter F/As,

Have you seen the trailer trash lately? It is really embarrasing to walk in the same terminal as some of them. How do you compliment a flight attendent?................Nice Tooth.....
How do you compliment a group of flight attendents? .........Nice Tooth!

 

[BFE]

The CRJ 9's that were in Montreal painted and customized to PSA specs are now going to Comiar.

Funny, don't hear any "sell out" words on FI, I guess only PSA can be the sell outs.

As for the paint, word from a mechanic is it's over spray from the flag repaint. Pretty sad eah?

 

[MEL'ed]

With Mesa flying 900s and RAH flying 86 seat 175s, whats the BFD regarding scope with Q400s and 900s at the WOs?

Something about flying turboprops with more than 70 something seats (forget the actual number). Jets of that size aren't in the mainline scope, but turboprops still are. Right now, why would AAA want to give up any scope clause that helped the company, even if it helped a wholly owned? If mgmt would give mainline a fair combined contract, then I think they would be more willing to work with us on this issue. From the rumors and info I hear, the AAA guys also don't like us over flow through right now, so why help us get new a/c?

 

[BoilerUP]

Something about flying turboprops with more than 70 something seats (forget the actual number). Jets of that size aren't in the mainline scope, but turboprops still are. Right now, why would AAA want to give up any scope clause that helped the company, even if it helped a wholly owned? If mgmt would give mainline a fair combined contract, then I think they would be more willing to work with us on this issue. From the rumors and info I hear, the AAA guys also don't like us over flow through right now, so why help us get new a/c?

So 90 seat jets at a contract Express carrier is acceptable, but 70-76 seat turboprops at a WO Express carrier is not?

Do I understand that correctly?

If so, East guys are more f**ked than I ever imagined...

 

[MEL'ed]

yep....

 

[Crzipilot]

I believe it's a basic situation where, they put in wording allowing up to 90 seat JET aircraft to be flown at the regionals, and they basically skipped over the section talking about turboprops. Hence the seat restriction on the turboprops is still there, 'cause nobody looked or changed it. Because as management said, the turboprop was dead......uhmm..ok

 

[WSurf]

So 90 seat jets at a contract Express carrier is acceptable, but 70-76 seat turboprops at a WO Express carrier is not?

Do I understand that correctly?

If so, East guys are more f**ked than I ever imagined...

Yep! The Scope says that nothing over 69 seats that is Turbo Shaft Drivin (Turbo Prop) can be flown!!!! So yea! PDT is getting the Shaft!

Hence, No new Planes and No Flow Thru, plus 6 year upgrade = Nobody wants to come to PDT!!!!

 

[greedypilot]

Back to the original topic, I saw 5+ PSA CRJs in CLT that recently had the US Airways Express banner repainted... apparently the job went to the lowest bidder because they didn't mask off the front of the aircraft and you can see a horrible white overspray trail.. I'd be embarrassed...

 

[nethan]

That's from the jetways. None of the flags were repainted. Honestly... is this the sort of place that would spend money on touching up the flag logo?

 

[trainer8]

Back to the original topic, I saw 5+ PSA CRJs in CLT that recently had the US Airways Express banner repainted... apparently the job went to the lowest bidder because they didn't mask off the front of the aircraft and you can see a horrible white overspray trail.. I'd be embarrassed...

They look like aged Silverbacked Orcas....