Big Airline kicks Ohio in the teeth again

Posted on Jan 31, 2025

We’ve covered Big Airline’s potential contribution to Ohio’s economic stagnancy before, but an eagle-eyed reader alerted us to this new item: PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines Group, is now shuttering its Dayton headquarters.

An airline company announced that it is moving its corporate headquarters from Dayton to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to a release from the company.

PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines Group, announced the relocation on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

PSA Airlines corporate headquarters has been located in Dayton since 1985, according to Montgomery County.

The new corporate headquarters will be located at 2708 Water Ridge Parkway, which is about two miles from American’s Charlotte Flight Training Center and five miles from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). It’s expected to open in January 2026.

Many PSA employees currently live in this area, according to the company.

The company said all 350 Dayton-based employees are invited to relocate to Charlotte. They have until April to decide, according to the company.

PSA pointed to Charlotte having the nation’s seventh-busiest airports.
That is, of course, not the result of Charlotte being the seventh-biggest metropolitan area; Census data makes clear that it’s only the 22nd biggest. It’s the result of American Airlines having turned Charlotte into a hub.
There are undoubtedly many reasons why American Airlines felt that this made good business sense. Tax considerations undoubtedly come into it (though Ohio doesn’t have a corporate tax, instead levying a gross receipts tax).
But for Ohioians, this is going to look again like a big company that is part of a big industry dumping on the Heartland.
It would be interesting to know where Bernie Moreno and now-Sen. Husted are on this, as well as Vivek Ramaswamy. JD Vance has moved on from focusing on Ohio issues, and is all national now.
Sympathy for American Airlines is going to be running high right now, because of the crash in Washington, DC. But that shouldn’t prevent scrutiny of this kind of maneuvering, or policymakers thinking about what they could do, policy-wise, to make it less likely.