Pinnacle Airlines., formerly Express Airlines I, wholly owned by Northwest. Corporate HQ located: 1689 Nonconnah Blvd, Ste 111, Memphis, TN 38132, talk to Kim Monroe or Stephanie Grantham. Operates 40+ RJs, getting 83 by end of 2004. Parking all remaining Saabs by Jan. 02. ALPA contract. FO pay 19.17 hr, 75 hour guarantee. Upgrade time, unknown for now, climbing on a daily basis due to Saab displacement. Morale: poor, but improving due to more union participation. Pilot group is treated VERY poorly by management. All lines routinely consist of high speed overnights, (continuous duty), and very few "staged" overnights. Benefits poor, flight benefits, 25$ roundtrip on NW, free on Pinnacle and Mesaba for you and immediate family. Expect to be on reserve as new FO (probably in MSP or DTW, MEM is senior) for several months. Once hired, you get NO pay, NO hotel, NO benefits, NO ID to jumpseat, till you pass checkride, which can take anywhere from two to three months. Talk about a weak contract.
PSA airlines, US Airways Express. Wholly owned by US Airways., formerly Jetstream Airlines (guess what airplane they flew before the Doorknob)? Corporate headquarters, Dayton, Ohio. Phone number: (800) 235-0986, 3400 Terminal Drive, Vandalia, OH 45377-1041. Joey Fleming, HR. Operates 25+ DO328 turboprops. Lots of new stuff going on there with the US Airways fiasco. Benefits start first day of class, ID card, flight benefits, health, etc. Hotel, pay, and perdiem first day of class. 190$ a year for flight benefits for you and your family for ulimited passes on mainline. Bases in PIT, TYS, DAY, CAK. I heard they closed CVG lately, but don't know for sure. Pay was 17.00 an hour for an FO, but that was with the old contract, I'm sure it is more now. Upgrade time....I don't know, it's probably several years. I think they might be getting new planes, not sure. Again, lots of changes lately.
I worked at both companies...I have better memories of one of them. PSA treated their people (and I know many current PSA pilots probably cringe when I say this) better than Pinnacle. The trips are better, lines are better, more days off, etc. The Dornier is a sweet plane to fly, as is the RJ. Upgrade time is probably the same either way, pay is higher at Pinnacle, but quality of life is miserable. Pinnacle future is probably not in as much doubt as PSA. Who knows. I would never have guessed AA would buy out TWA. Good luck.