PSA Airlines began operating in Latrobe, Pennsylvania as Vee Neal Airlines (named after owner Vee Neal Frey) on May 1, 1980. Vee Neal Airlines began scheduled air service between Latrobe and Pittsburgh with a Cessna 402 operating about six or seven round trips a day.
With the help of local business leaders, six British Aerospace Jetstream 31 aircraft were bought to build a route system that would insure air service links on a nonstop basis to key cities. The Jetstream 31 was preferred because it was pressurized, had good passenger comforts and the speed to reach the cities of interest.
Vee Neal Airlines changed its name to Jetstream International Airlines in December 1983, with the delivery of two of the 19-passenger Jetstream aircraft. Over the next eight months, four more Jetstream 31's arrived and were added to service.
After some struggling as a point-to-point carrier, Jetstream affiliated itself with Piedmont Airlines on September 26, 1985. The airline began service under the Piedmont colors connecting Erie with Piedmont's Baltimore and Dayton hubs, as well as service from Youngstown, OH to the Baltimore hub.
With USAir's acquisition of Piedmont in November 1987, Jetstream began operating as an Allegheny Commuter in April 1988 out of USAir's hub in Philadelphia in addition to its continued feed to the Baltimore and Dayton hub for Piedmont.
November 1995 brought major changes to Jetstream. On November 1, 1995, Jetstream International Airlines got a new name, PSA Airlines, Inc. Changes occurring at Jetstream made this a good time to change the name as well as to preserve another famous name that is part of USAir's heritage. At that same time, PSA Airlines, Inc. was chosen for placement of Bombardier CRJ-200 and CRJ-700 aircraft.
PSA now has crew bases in Charlotte, NC; Dayton, OH; and Knoxville, TN, and maintenance bases in Akron, OH; Charlotte, NC; and Dayton, OH. As of March 2005, PSA boasts 35 CRJ-200 and 14 CRJ-700 aircraft.
From Latrobe, PA to Dayton, OH from Van Neal Airlines to PSA Airlines, the Company has grown from operating a few Chiefton and Cessna aircraft in the early 80's to a modern fleet of 49 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet aircraft flying US Airways Express flights.
A handful of employees in Latrobe, PA has now grown to over 1200 employees who are based in Akron, OH; Dayton, OH; Charlotte, NC; and Knoxville, TN.
