Psa: Poor Sailor's Airline

[Light Years]

If any of you havent had the chance yet, you should read "Poor Sailors Airline: The Story of Kenny Friedkin's Pacific Southwest Airlines" by Gary Kissel. Its a fascinating look at one of the airlines that was absorbed by USAir. Of course, not a single PSA route is flown by today's US Airways, and our presence in California and the west coast is minimal.

Its ironic that this beloved, quirky airline was the inspiration for Southwest. In fact, before Southwest started operations they studied PSA's operations, even used some of PSA's manuals, crossing out the word "Pacific", and replacing the word "California" with "Texas." PSA handed over years of experience to the new Texas start-up, which mimicked the low fares and unique culture and image.

Reading the book made me even sadder about the current situation of U's employees. Many people forget how great PSA and Piedmont were. Its hard to believe there was a time when people loved thier company deeply and the public loved an airline rather than loathe them. Even the airplanes wore a smile! 🙂

 

[PSA1979]

Forget how great PSA was? Never in a million years!! PSA lives on in the hearts of all the ex's. I had the priviledge of being part of that family since 1963 (when my Dad hired on as a flight engineer) and a flight attendant was a real stewardess! Kenny and Tommy Friedkin were aces.

 

[robbedagain]

was piedmont the same way? I remember I flew on PI's F-28-4000 from BWI to ORF and it was wonderful from the start to the end. I was curious if this was the way the entire airline was or not?

 

[Light Years]

robbedagain,

I was not around then but from what I've heard, absolutely. Hopefully some of the employees of all three airlines (Allegheny/USAir, Piedmont, PSA) can tell some stories about when they were successful- and more importantly WHY they were successful. I think we'd see that the relationship between management and employees makes the world of difference.

When I was flying I always enjoyed hearing about the history of US Airways and its predecesors. Lets keep this post a positive one, theres enough negative going on. Perhaps it could be enlightening to certain people reading the board.

 

[PSA1979]

Before we landed we gave a list of supplies to the flight crew to order for the next flight. We only ordered what we needed, no one came on board and went through all our drawers to see if we needed 2 cokes, 3 sprites, 1 oj etc. We cleaned the airplanes and crossed seat belts. We did not empty trash or clean the lavs. We could turn an airplane around in under 20 minutes, and did most of the time. In the beginning we even sold tickets on board, of course that would never happen now, after 9/11.

I remember standing at the forward door armed with baggage tags, ready to check anything that caught my eye as too big. Most of the time it was given up freely, now a days, forget it. It's like a tug a war!

We did not serve food, only drinks, peanuts and then went through with a basket of mints for those in need of scope.

I used to do a routine on all my flights ( the news even filmed it back in 87)

"For those of you that have not been in an automobile since 1966, this is a seat belt.....

"Reach up, pull the mask down, carefull not to mess your hair..... place the mask over your nose and mouth first then assist your child or someone acting like a child, if they have been good.

Oh, those were the days....

Heard a stewardess was locked up in the overhead compartment during boarding, and when the pax opened the overhead to stow his suitcase he reached in and grabbed a leg....

Or once a Captain called me up to the front to "talk" then forgot what he was going to say. So, I started to walk aft and he must have remembered, cuz over the PA I heard "Ladies and gentlemen see that flight attendant walking down the aisle? Well she did not know that John Crapper invented the flush toilet. Can you imagine
that?"

More to follow another day...

 

[28yearsnojob]

PSA MADDOGS GAS EATERS Usair paid too much for that outfit

 

[Hula Girl]

Ask a former Piedmont pilot about Captain Jim Brown. You will be in stitches and probably will not believe the stories about him. What a character!!!

 

[Dea Certe]

The PSA franchise was a goldmine. It was a very simple premise; low fares, high frequency, no frills. Customers didn't expect nor want a meal on an hour-long flight. They were quite happy with a bag of peanuts, a drink and smile. We had a good time and so did our customers!

Most of our employees had a good sense of humor because that's about all we had to give our customers. We worked long, hard days and laughed the whole time. That's not to say we didn't take our jobs seriously. We did. There was a definite sense of team work among us.

USAir management at that time wasn't much interested in what made PSA work. That was a real blind spot. The culture-gap was just too wide. A pity, really.

Not many people on the west coast know who US Airways is, but just mention PSA to any oldster and they will smile and tell you a story about way back when....

I'm glad I was a part of that history. Now, I just hope I have a future!

Dea