American drops three cities over staff shortage

Staff shortages at the regional subsidiary airlines of the U.S. mega carrier American are starting to bite into the schedules as flights to three cities had had to be axed.  The group is cutting flights to the cities of Islip and Ithaca in New York, and Toledo, Ohio.

American Airlines says the routes will be cut from September 7th and is "In response to the regional pilot shortage affecting the airline industry, American Airlines has made the difficult decision to end service.”

CEO Robert Isom had previously confirmed that as a carrier it had been forced to grounded about 100 of its regional jets simply because it didn’t have enough workers to operate them. One of the key issues has been experienced staff moving up to American Airlines mainline fleet, whilst the regional carriers haven’t been able to recruit enough junior replacements.

American is cutting services between Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport and Chicago O'Hare Airport.  Philadelphia  - Ithaca Tompkins International Airport, is another that is being axed. The third route being cut is the daily service between Philadelphia and Islip’s Long Island McArthur Airport

A spokesperson for the group advised that affected passengers would be contacted directly and "We're extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided to our customers in Islip, Ithaca, and Toledo, and are working closely with them during this time,"

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Some U.S. pilots are getting double pay........

Photo Envoy

Massive pay rises for pilots of two U.S. regional airlines that operate flights for American Airlines, as the global shortage of pilots continues to affect airlines around the world.

The regional airlines will increase rates of pay by around 50% until the end of August, it was announced this week. -The temporary raises will bring hourly wages for first officers in their first year of flying at Piedmont Airlines to $90 an hour, up from $51 an hour. For first-year captains, pay will go up from $78 an hour to $146 an hour advised, Eric Morgan, Piedmont’s CEO, who also said the increase could be extended should the shortage of pilots continue.

The Maryland-based airline was losing about 25 pilots a month to American Airlines’ mainline operation and has thus far failed to meet its target to recruit 40 pilots a month. The shortage of flight deck crew means the regional airline has to leave roughly 10 of its 60 aircraft on the ground at any one time.

Texas-based Envoy Airlines released details of a similar pay hike at the weekend saying that through to the end of August, Envoy pilots will receive a Pilot Supply Premium of 50% added to their hourly rate for all compensable hours.

Photo Envoy

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Final flights for Dash 8's in Piedmont Airlines fleet

Piedmont Airlines is finally letting its wonderful 8's rest as the  wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines retires the de Havilland Canada “Dash 8” fleet after 33 years of flying. 

Tomorrow, 4th July 2018, will be the final day of scheduled operations for the hard-working venrable turboprops. The carrier tells us that Flight 4927 will depart from Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 6:33 p.m. and touch down at sunset at Salisbury Wicomico Ocean City Regional Airport in Salisbury, Maryland, thus completing the Dash’s final revenue flight.

 The Dash 8 fleet has been Piedmont’s pride and joy since the first Dash was delivered to company headquarters in Salisbury on April 4, 1985. The first revenue flight, from Salisbury to Baltimore, took place on May 2, 1985.