Dayton airline growing quickly with new hires

PSA, adding new planes monthly, needs pilots, attendants, mechanics


By the numbers

871 Dayton employees.

2,500 total employees.

150 Bombardier CRJ aircraft by the end of 2017.

Source: PSA Airlines.

If you go

PSA Airlines job fair

Where: 3300 Terminal Drive, near Dayton International Airport.

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Building on its three-year growth, PSA Airlines will hire more than 1,000 pilots in the next 18 months and add a $14.3 million maintenance hangar at the Dayton International Airport.

The success of the Dayton-based company is helping the airport become an economic development driver in the region, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said.

Having a growing airline based in Dayton — the only airline with its corporate base in Ohio — is a win on every front for the city, Whaley said. It means increased traffic flow, and not only more jobs, but more high-paying jobs, the mayor said.

PSA Airlines is hosting a hiring fair today at its training center at 3300 Terminal Drive, just before the Dayton International Airport main terminal. The company is hiring 70 new employees in different positions.

Wholly owned by American Airlines, PSA is growing quickly. Its fleet has grown from 49 airplanes to 106 and continues to grow at three airplanes a month.

It will grow to 150 Bombardier CRJ aircraft by the end of 2017.

The company’s recruiting calendar shows more than 10 hiring events just in the next two weeks, from Pennsylvania to North Dakota to Texas.

This year is crucial in hiring the right pilots, attendants and technicians, said Dion Flannery, president of PSA Airlines.

“This is the year,” Flannery said.

In early 2015, American Airlines beefed up PSA Airlines, selecting the carrier to fly 24 new Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen airplanes. Those modern planes fly under the American Eagle brand.

“It’s fantastic,” Whaley said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Terry Slaybaugh (Dayton International Airport director) at the airport and the (Dayton Development) Coalition.”

The airline has flight crew bases in Dayton, Knoxville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C. — where it has most of its pilots and attendants — and maintains maintenance sites in Dayton, Akron-Canton and Charlotte.

To attract candidates, PSA offers qualified pilots a career path to American. Flannery acknowledges that finding the right people can be challenging in an era of relatively low unemployment. In March, the airline started a bonus program, paying pilots up to $15,000 on top of first-year pay.

“There’s a tighter supply of pilots,” he said. “There’s been a major dynamic in the change of pay structures and what people are people are willing to pay pilots. We’re competing in that space.”

For career-minded employees, Flannery says PSA offers a growing airline while others are shrinking or shutting down.

“Stability is one of the words we like to use,” the president said.

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