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.

“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.