Dion Flannery To Succeed Keith Houk As President Of PSA Airlines, Inc.

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Apr 16, 2014, 10:21 ET

DAYTON, Ohio, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- PSA Airlines, Inc. today announced the company's president and chief executive officer Keith Houk, after more than 25 years of outstanding service, has elected to retire from his current role. Succeeding Houk will be Dion Flannery, most recently president of US Airways Express.

Flannery's appointment as president of PSA will be effective Aug. 31, 2014. After Aug. 31, Houk has agreed to continue to advise Flannery and the company on strategic matters through the end of 2014.

Dion Flannery appointed president of PSA. (PRNewsFoto/PSA Airlines, Inc.)

"Keith has played a tremendous role in the successes of PSA during his nine years leading the company," said Kenji Hashimoto, senior vice president – regional carriers for American Airlines. "American and PSA owe Keith our gratitude for his service. Dion is a well-qualified and experienced successor to continue the growth of the high-quality and cost-effective operation Keith has established at PSA."

"My time at PSA has been the highlight of my more than 40-year career in aviation and I will certainly miss the daily interaction with everyone at this fine company when I retire," said Keith Houk. "With Dion's strong leadership and knowledge of our business and the PSA's team's ability to run a top-notch regional airline, I know I will be leaving the company in capable hands to grow PSA well into the future."

As president of US Airways Express, the regional network serving the legacy US Airways network, Flannery led initiatives designed to enhance coordination, efficiency and customer service levels across the Express partner operations. The US Airways Express network included more than 275 aircraft flown by eight regional carriers including PSA. His previous senior leadership experience includes serving as vice president – financial analysis for US Airways; vice president – scheduling and route planning at America West Airlines and senior director – long-range schedule planning at Continental Airlines. Dion holds a bachelor's degree in advertising from the University of Texas-Austin and Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from the University of Houston.

PSA Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL). The company currently operates 35 Bombardier CRJ200 and 14 CRJ700 aircraft under the US Airways Express brand and livery. In June 2014, PSA will begin taking delivery of 30 new CRJ900 NextGen aircraft that it was awarded to fly by American Airlines in late 2013. These new CRJ900s will allow PSA to provide a new standard of comfort for passengers, while lowering the company's operating costs with this modern and fuel-efficient 76-seat aircraft. Eventually, all PSA aircraft will fly under the American Eagle brand and livery as US Airways and American Airlines work to combine their networks following their December 2013 merger.

About PSA Airlines, Inc.
PSA Airlines, Inc. is a wholly owed subsidiary of the American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) operating an all-jet fleet consisting of exclusively Bombardier (CRJ) aircraft. The company's 1,500 employees and 49 aircraft serve more than 65 destinations in over 20 states. Headquartered at the Dayton International Airport (DAY) in Ohio, PSA also has flight crew bases located in Knoxville, Tenn. and Charlotte, N.C. and maintains maintenance facilities in Dayton and Canton, Ohio, as well as a line maintenance base in Charlotte, N.C. PSA currently operates 35 CRJ200s and 14 CRJ700s aircraft under the US Airways Express brand and livery. In June 2014, PSA will begin taking delivery of 30 new CRJ900 NextGen aircraft.

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) is the holding company for American Airlines, US Airways and three regional airlines PSA, Envoy and Piedmont. Together with American Eagle and US Airways Express, the airlines operate an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to 339 destinations in 54 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. The American Airlines AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles programs allow members to earn and redeem miles for travel and everyday purchases as well as flight upgrades, vacation packages, car rentals, hotel stays and other retail products. American is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, whose members and members-elect serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to 150 countries. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines, and follow US Airways on Twitter @USAirways and at Facebook.com/USAirways.