Piedmont Airlines (PT, Salisbury, MD) says it will base its incoming fleet of E145s out of Philadelphia International beginning early next year. A circular to employees seen by ch-aviation says the first ERJ-145 will arrive later this year in time for proving flights. Piedmont, at present, is an all-prop operator whose fleet consists of thirty-two Dash 8-100s and eleven Dash 8-300s.
However, as the US domestic carrier sees strong potential with its 'new' jets, it has therefore decided to close its New Bern and Charlottesville bases from January 1, 2016 in order to fully staff its new Philadelphia operations.
Citing an insufficient number of Envoy Air (MQ, Dallas/Fort Worth) pilots needed to operate its planned schedule, American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) announced in November last year that it would be transferring fifty of Envoy's ERJ-145s to various affiliate carriers. Of the fifty, at least twenty are to head to Piedmont, at least fifteen to Trans States Airlines (St. Louis Lambert International), with the rest to go to another unspecified carrier.
