Pilotmangel - Diskuteres mye verden over - Her er en løsning hos amerikanske PSA - Curt Lewis

Seeking 500 pilots a year, PSA Airlines sweetens the pot

PSA AIrlines Inc. has announced another strategy to attract more pilots as it now needs to hire 500 per year over the next few years.

The Dayton-based company will offer a $20,000 retention bonus to active first officers beginning this month, to be paid in quarterly installments over two years or until they upgrade to captain. PSA also is instituting a $250 monthly allowance for pilots to offset the cost of commuting hotel expenses.

This marks the latest hiring strategy of PSA, the only commercial passenger airline headquartered in Ohio and one of the fastest growing in the business. The regional carrier of American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) began offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus for all new pilots hired in 2016.

The retention strategy comes as PSA looks to boost employment as its fleet rapidly grows on orders from its parent company. PSA also has an agreement that allows pilots career advancement into American Airlines, another factor contributing to its need to recruit new talent.

PSA is headquartered in Dayton with major operations here including 920 local jobs, according to the 2015-2016 DBJ Book of Lists. The company has been growing thanks to an order by its parent company that will mean it operates 150 Bombardier aircraft over the next two years. It currently has 106 Bombardier passenger aircraft in its fleet.

The carrier has grown significantly including upping its number of local employees from 600 a few years ago. PSA also has started on a new $14 million maintenance hangar at the Dayton International Airport, which will double the number of aircraft it keeps in Dayton overnight. Last month it held a job fair to fill another 70 jobs to help crew in that hangar.

Overall, PSA has nearly 2,400 employees and operates 700 daily flights to 90 destinations. It has flight crew bases in Dayton, Cincinnati, Knoxville, Tenn. and Charlotte, N.C. It also has maintenance facilities in Dayton, Canton, Cincinnati and Charlotte.