US Airways

This article is about the airline known as US Airways. For a list of airlines of the United States, see List of airlines of the United States.

US Airways
IATA ICAO Call sign
  • AL (1979–1988)
  • US (1988–2015)
  • USA (1979–2008)
  • AWE (2008–2015)
  • US AIR (1979–2008)
  • CACTUS (2008–2015)
Founded1937 (1937)
(as All American Aviation)
Commenced operations
  • March 7, 1939 (1939-03-07)
    (as All American Aviation)
  • January 1, 1953 (1953-01-01)
    (as Allegheny Airlines)
  • October 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)
    (as USAir)
  • February 27, 1997 (1997-02-27)
    (as US Airways)
Ceased operations
AOC #AALA025A[1]
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programDividend Miles
Alliance
Subsidiaries
Parent companyUS Airways Group
Headquarters
[2]
Key peopleDoug Parker (CEO)[3]
Websitewww.usairways.com (Archived 2015-02-23 at the Wayback Machine)

US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed Allegheny Airlines and operated under that name for a quarter-century. In October 1979, after the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Allegheny Airlines changed its name to USAir. A decade later it had acquired Piedmont Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), and was one of the U.S.'s seven transcontinental legacy carriers. In 1997, it rebranded as US Airways.

The airline had an extensive international and domestic network, with 193 destinations in 24 countries in North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. The airline was a member of the Star Alliance, before becoming an affiliate member of Oneworld in March 2014. US Airways had 343 mainline jets, as well as 278 regional jet and turboprops flown by contract and subsidiary airlines under the name US Airways Express via code sharing agreements.

The airline had severe financial difficulties in the early 2000s, filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in two years. In 2005, America West Airlines carried out a reverse merger, acquiring the assets and branding of the larger US Airways while putting the America West leadership team largely in charge of the merged airline.

In 2013, American Airlines and US Airways announced plans to merge, creating the largest airline in the world.[4] The holding companies of American and US Airways merged effective December 9, 2013.[5] The combined airline carried the American Airlines name and branding and maintained the existing US Airways hubs for a period of at least five years under the terms of a settlement with the Department of Justice and several state attorneys general.[6][7] US Airways management ran the combined airline from the American headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.[6][8] On April 8, 2015, the FAA officially granted a single operating certificate for both carriers, marking the end of US Airways as an independent carrier. The brand continued to exist until October 2015.[9]

Its first hub was in Pittsburgh, and it operated hubs in Charlotte, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, and Washington–Reagan.

The final US Airways flight was San Francisco to Philadelphia via Phoenix and Charlotte, operating as Flight 1939 with 1939 commemorating the birth of All American Aviation, which eventually became US Airways.[10][11] Repainting of US Airways' planes into the American Airlines scheme was expected to take until "late 2016", with new flight attendant uniforms also being introduced in 2016.[11]

  1. ^ "Airline Certificate Information – Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. May 12, 2015. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2015. Certificate Number AALA025A
  2. ^ "US Airways - Phone/email". usairways.com. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  3. ^ "American Airlines and US Airways Announce Post-Merger Management Team". frequentbusinesstraveler.com. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  4. ^ Bartz, Diane; Jacobs, Karen (July 1, 2013). "State Attorneys General Join Probe Of American Airlines, U.S. Airways Merger". The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  5. ^ Maxon, Terry (November 27, 2013). "Judge OKs American Airlines-US Airways merger, American's exit from bankruptcy". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "American Airlines and US Airways to Create a Premier Global Carrier -- The New American Airlines" (Press release). Fort Worth, TX & Tempe, AZ: AMR & US Airways Group. February 14, 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  7. ^ Kurtzleben, Danielle (November 12, 2013). "AMR, US Airways Reach Settlement with Justice Department on Merger". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
  8. ^ "American Airlines, US Airways unveil $11 billion merger". Reuters. February 14, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  9. ^ Karp, Gregory (April 8, 2015). "American Airlines, US Airways get FAA approval to fly as one carrier". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  10. ^ "Last US Airways flight taking off from Philadelphia, stopping in Charlotte, Phoenix, San Fran". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Associated Press. October 18, 2015. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Mutzabaugh, Ben (October 16, 2015). "US Airways' Final Flight Closes Curtain on Another Major Airline". USA Today. Retrieved October 22, 2015.