Us Airways History

1.0: Pre-Deregulation

US Airways began, in the mid 1930s, calling itself All American Aviation. It began service as an airmail carrier, supplying service to many small western Pennsylvania and Ohio Valley communities. Then, in 1949 All American Aviation changed its name to All American Airways; with the change of name the airline also changed direction in terms of the service it offered. The airline is able to focus on passenger service with the introduction of the DC-3. The airlines’ route system continues to grow, and in 1953 it changes its name again, this time to Allegheny Airlines.

In 1965, Allegheny Airlines began purchasing the turbine-powered Convair 580. One year later, the airline decided to purchase a DC9-10, and was replaced in 1967 by a DC9-30, which would eventually go on to form most of Allegheny’s fleet. That same year, Allegheny began commuter service Hagerstown, MD and Baltimore/Washington International Airport, which was run by Henson Aviation, forerunner of Piedmont Airlines. The introduction of this commuter service, and the use of regional airlines like Henson was just the beginning; today US Airways’ network includes 10 regional airlines that provide US Airways Express service to 172 cities throughout the nation (http://www.usairways.com).

Although retaining its name, in 1968 Allegheny merged with Lake Central Airlines. This merger allowed the airline to expand its route network further, from Pittsburgh, to encompass the Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. A few years later, in 1972, Allegheny acquired Mohawk Airlines. Mohawk airline served cities throughout New York and New England. Furthermore, with this merger, in addition to the added route network expansion, Allegheny also acquired Mohawk's BAC-1-11 jets. With these additions, Allegheny becomes the sixth largest airline in the world in terms of passenger boarding’s (http://www.usairways.com).

In 1978, arguably one of the largest events in the airline industry takes place, with the deregulation of the industry. With this, airlines have the freedom to expand route systems, and they also have the flexibility to develop new pricing structures; unfortunately, the industry also looses the protection of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Just like that a new industry is born.

2.0: Post-Deregulation through 1996

With the ushering in of a new industry via deregulation, Allegheny decided to yet again change its name, and in 1979 it became USAir. The company did so in order to express its ever expanding route network, which by post deregulation stretched to include: Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and Florida. A few years later, in 1984 USAir followed suit of other airlines and introduced its frequent traveler program, providing travel benefits to USAir's most loyal customers (http://www.usairways.com).

Piedmont Airlines, which began in 1948 and was the dominant carrier throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, acquired Empire Airlines in 1986. This was important because one year later Piedmont became the newest subsidiary of USAir. Also in 1987, Pacific Southwest Airlines, based in San Diego, became a wholly owned subsidiary of USAir Group. Also in 1987, Piedmont introduced European routes into its system (http://www.usairways.com).

The merging continued in 1988, with PSA becoming part of USAir. The following year, in 1989, Piedmont is fully integrated into USAir, which was, at the time, the largest merger in airline history. With the merger, USAir acquires Piedmont's international routes as well as its Charlotte, Baltimore, Dayton and Syracuse hubs. USAir’s fleet further expands with this acquisition because it “brings USAir's first wide body jets, the Boeing 767-200ERs now used on its transatlantic and some transcontinental routes” (http://www.usairways.com).

USAir expanded its international flying in 1990, with service between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, Germany. This international expansion by USAir was further developed in 1991, with the introduction of new nonstop between Charlotte and Frankfurt. The next year proved to be quite a busy year for USAir, starting with the addition of the Philadelphia to Paris route. Also in 1992, USAir introduced daily nonstop flights between both Philadelphia and Baltimore and London Gatwick airport. Also that year, USAir and Trump Shuttle began a marketing affiliation under which the service becomes the USAir Shuttle. The Shuttle provided hourly service between New York and Boston and between New York and Washington, D.C. USAir's new terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport opens (http://www.usairways.com). In addition to the new routes added, USAir ushered in the new Pittsburgh Midfield Terminal, which contained 2.1 million square feet and 100 departure gates.

In 1993, USAir and British Airways announced an investment/alliance plan, under which USAir gave up its London route authority (http://www.usairways.com). One year later, in 1994 USAir expanded its Frequent Traveler Program by becoming the only U.S. domestic airline partner of LatinPass, which has 14 Latin American airlines sharing program benefits.

1995 and 1996 were landmark years for USAir, beginning with the announcement in 1995 of is first profitable year since 1988; earnings that year totaled $119.3 million on sales of $7.474 billion. Also in 1995, the airline made it possible for its patrons to book a flight from a computer, with the creation of its Priority TravelWorksSM, and introduced ticket-less travel. One year later, in 1996, a new chairman was elected, with the retiring of Seth Schofield. Under the new supervision of Stephen Wolf, USAir continued its transatlantic expansion with service to Munich, Rome and Madrid from Philadelphia beginning in 1996.

In a two-week period in 1996, USAir announced an order up to 400 new Airbus A319, A320 and A321 for delivery starting in 1998 and continuing through 2009; it also announced yet another new identity, renaming itself US Airways. One of the first things the airline did after the name change was challenge its relationship with British Airways; the same relationship that a few years ago had it giving up its London flights. It challenged the relationship in court, seeking rights to London