We landed in ATL last week behind this shiney new EMB-170 in US Airways Express colors. The N number ended in "MA" so I surmised that it must be Mid-Atlantic. It even had the words, "US Airways Express" written across the side.
But here's the part that made me stop and say WTF? When they contacted Ground Control, they used the "US Air" call sign. Huh? Then they did it again with Ramp Control.
Anybody know why they are not using the call sign, "Mid Atlantic"? They are an Express carrier so therefore should not be using the mainline call sign.
After further reflection, we concluded that MA is probably staffed by furloughed mainline pilots who have too much of a hard-on to refer to themselves using some kind of an Express wholly-owned callsign. Hmmm...let's see...Piedmont, Allegheny, and PSA are wholly-owned and treated as the bastard stepchildren of mainline by the mainline pilots but they aren't allowed to use the "US Air" callsign for their flights. So why should Mid-Atlantic?
As a fitting ending to this story, when it was our turn to contact Ground Control, I keyed the mike, stated our call sign, and gave our position as, "On Lima for Ramp #3 behind the US Airways Express SJ".