America West Airlines
America West Airlines , operating as
US Airways, is one of the
United States' ten major
airlines. The airline is based in
Tempe, Arizona and is a part of
US Airways Group.
The airline maintains two hubs, one at
Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, and the second at
McCarran International Airport in
Las Vegas, Nevada. However, through its merging with
US Airways, it also maintains hubs at
Philadelphia International Airport,
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. It is the second largest
low-cost airline in the US. America West provides service to approximately 100 destinations in the US,
Canada, and
Mexico. Service to
Europe is provided through
code sharing arrangements. Service was briefly provided to
Nagoya,
Japan during the 80's.
As of March, 2005, America West operated a
fleet of 140 aircraft with its only maintenance base in Phoenix.
America West Express is the name for commuter and regional flights operated by
Mesa Airlines for America West Airlines. The America West Express
fleet consists of 43 aircraft.
On
May 19,
2005,
America West Holdings Corporation announced it would merge with the
Arlington County, Virginia based US Airways Group. The new entity is named
US Airways Group and is headquartered in America West's former corporate offices. The merger was completed on
September 27,
2005, and America West now operates under the US Airways brand. A merger of the two airlines'
FAA operating certificates is expected in 2007.
Beginning January, 2006, all America West flights are branded as
US Airways, along with most signage at airports and any other printed material.
The early years
One of the
1980s' greatest business success stories, the airline was established in February 1981 and started on
August 1,
1983 using three
Boeing 737 aircraft flying out of their base in
Phoenix, Arizona with
Ed Beauvais as CEO. At the start, passengers could buy tickets on board the aircraft.
The airline quickly expanded, with 11 737s operating flights to 13 cities, developing a secondary hub in Las Vegas, Nevada by the end of 1983, and in 1984 grew to 21 aircraft and 23 cities.
America West was one of the first airlines to use extensive "cross-utilization", in which employees were trained in a variety of airline jobs, such as pilots trained in dispatch, and both baggage handlers and flight attendants being trained as gate agents. America West also started as a "full service" airline, in contrast with
Southwest Airlines, the discount air carrier competing in many of the same markets. America West also utilized an aggressive employee stock ownership program, in which new employees were required to invest 20% of their salary in company stock, providing a steady flow of cash as the company grew.
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America West Airbus A320 at Detroit-Metropolitan Airport, Michigan, USA, in March 2004 |
In 1985, America West had grown to the point that no more gate space was available at
Sky Harbor International Airport. While the new Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor was approved in 1986, it became apparent that additional gates would be needed before Terminal 4 was completed, and a temporary concourse was added to the southwest corner of the Airport's Terminal 3, adding six gates (eventually a total of 11 gates by 1990) for the use of America West.
The airline's rapid growth continued in 1986, with the airline greatly expanding its fleet, primarily with
Boeing 757s purchased from
Northwest Airlines after Northwest bought out
Republic Airlines, as well as the acquisition of a number of
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft for local service from Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Also in 1986, the airline started running
red-eye flights from Las Vegas to increase aircraft utilization.
The rapid growth of America West resulted in large operating losses for the airline, and by 1986 the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Originally slated to occupy the vast majority of the gates in the under-construction Terminal 4, America West had to reduce its commitment to the city of Phoenix to just 28 gates, with the growing Southwest Airlines agreeing to lease the remainder of Terminal 4.
Despite revenue problems, America West continued its growth, with a rebuffed attempted buyout of
Eastern Air Lines "shuttle" division in 1988. In 1989, the airline purchased four
Boeing 747 aircraft (formerly operated by
KLM), offering service to Hawaii and
Nagoya, Japan, as well as an expansion of service to many
Mexican destinations.
In 1990, the airline moved into the new Terminal 4 and also took the delivery of several
Airbus A320 aircraft that were destined for the now-defunct
Braniff Airways. The A320's were sold to America West at a steep discount. Braniff had assumed the Airbus A320 order after purchasing the original order rights from
Pan Am, another troubled carrier.
Despite these developments, the airline continued to lose money. The operating expenses at the new Terminal 4 were much larger than previous expenses in Terminal 3's temporary concourse. The Nagoya, Japan route was essentially a bust (the planes were flying with almost no passengers), with extremely low ticket sales. Finally, concerns about stability in the Gulf States in the lead-up to the
Persian Gulf War lead to increasing fuel costs. This combination forced America West to file for bankruptcy in June, 1991.
Bankruptcy
America West operated in
bankruptcy from 1991 to 1994. As part of its restructuring, the employee stock became worthless, the Hawaii and Nagoya routes were scrapped (and the 747s sold), and the airline's fleet was heavily pared down to 87 aircraft. All of the Dash 8 aircraft were sold, and America West's service to local markets was contracted to
Mesa Airlines, which began conducting operations as "America West Express."
The bankruptcy forced a number of changes on the management side as well. Founder and CEO Ed Beauvais was removed as CEO, but remained on the board of directors, while Mike Conway, who had been with the airline since its start, was appointed as the new CEO, although he in turn would leave the airline in 1994, replaced by A. Maurice Myers. America West's Flight Attendants also unionized in 1993, a move which ended the cross-utilization between
customer service agents, flight attendants, and ground agents. Many maintenance and training functions that were previously operated by America West in-house were also outsourced during the bankruptcy.
Reorganization
Finally, in 1994 America West managed to secure a reorganization that allowed it to come out of bankruptcy, with a large portion of the airline owned by a partnership including
Mesa Airlines and
Continental Airlines, which resulted in code-sharing agreements with these airlines.
To help reinvigorate the airline as it emerged from bankruptcy, a number of consumer-visible changes occurred, including a new color scheme and logo (still in use
as of 2005), new
livery,
E-ticket, and online ticket purchasing (in 1996). The airline continued ordering
Airbus A320 aircraft, and gradually started retiring its older Boeing
737-200 aircraft.
In
1990s, America West Airlines opened an east coast hub at
Port Columbus International Airport in
Columbus, Ohio.
Chautauqua Airlines was used to provide commuter and regional flights. An
America West Club was provided for the hub.
In
2000s America West Airlines received a loan of $380 million from the
Air Transportation Stabilization Board. As of April
2005, the remaining balance on the loan was $300 million. On
October 19, 2005, the loan was repaid when the debt was refinanced with other lenders.
In February of 2003, America West Airlines announced plans to close the Port Columbus International Airport hub. The closure was completed later that year reducing the number of scheduled flights from near 50 a day to only 4.
America West Airlines, in conjunction with
SkyMedia International, pioneered advertising space inside the cabin of the aircraft as an additional revenue source to help bring costs down. The companies developed FAA approved tray-table advertising.
2005 and Beyond-US Airways
|
The livery of the new US Airways |
With the merger of the holding companies, described above, major changes will happen at America West. Eventually, the America West name will disappear in 2007. Changes that have already occurred include:
*On
October 5,
2005 the airport club changed names from the America West Club to the US Airways Club
*All new America West aircraft will be delivered in the new
US Airways livery
*US Airways and America West are working to consolidate gates and ticket counters at airports across the nation
*The America West brand is being removed from January, 2006; all flights are now branded as
US AirwaysAircraft counts accurate
as of December 2005, according to
FAA records.
Airport Lounge
The airline's
airport lounge is called the
US Airways Club and includes 21 lounges in 16 major airports around the world. Club membership has several levels, including:
*Base - Includes access only to the US Airways Clubs.
*Red Carpet - Includes US Airways Clubs and adds access to United Airlines Red Carpet Clubs when traveling on a United Airlines ticket.
*Star Alliance - Includes US Airways Clubs, United Airlines Red Carpet Clubs, and all Star Alliance partner airline clubs.
Partner airlines for this program include:
*
EVA Airlines*
Royal Jordanian Airlines*
United AirlinesFrequent Flyer Program
The airline had a
frequent flyer program called
FlightFund. In 2006, FlightFund was merged into the US Airways
Dividend Miles program.
Partner airlines or programs for Dividend Miles (formerly FlightFund) include:
*
America West Express*
Hawaiian Airlines - Limited
*
Royal Jordanian Airlines*
US Airways*
Virgin Atlantic AirwaysCode Sharing
America West participates in
code share arrangements with several airlines including:
*
America West Express*
Big Sky Airlines*
EVA Airlines*
Hawaiian Airlines*
Royal Jordanian Airlines*
Qantas*
US Airways*
Virgin Atlantic AirwaysAmerica West has promotional partnerships with the
Phoenix Suns NBA team, the 2001
World Series champion
Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and the
Arizona Cardinals NFL team.
In 1992, America West paid $26 million for the 30-year naming rights of the
Phoenix Suns home court, which it named
America West Arena. As part of the merger with US Airways, the arena is now called
US Airways Center. Ironically, rival carrier
Southwest Airlines is advertised as the league's "official airline."
America West has had several in-flight incidents on its aircraft, but has never had an accident resulting in a fatality or a
hull loss.
| Flight | Date | Aircraft | Location | Descriptions | Injuries | | America West Flight 563 | April 2, 2000 | Boeing 757-2G7 | Dallas, Texas | Unexpected in-flight turbulence caused three flight attendants in the aft galley to be injured. NTSB brief | 1 serious, 2 minor |
| America West Flight 186 | June 15, 2001 | A320-232 | San Diego, California | Sudden descent caused flight attendant to be knocked unconscious. NTSB brief | 1 serious |
| America West Flight 579 | August 20, 2001 | A320-232 | Needles, California | Unexpected turbulence caused flight attendant to be knocked unconscious. NTSB brief | 1 serious |
| America West Flight 786 | November 2, 2001 | A319-132 | Midland, Texas | Emergency landing because of engine fatigue failure due to the manufacturer's inadequate design of the high-pressure compressor stubshaft coating NTSB brief | none |
| America West Flight 556 | July 1, 2002 | A319-100 | Miami, Florida | Flight halted by Transportation Security Administration and local police after a tip that the pilots appeared to be drunk. Sobriety tests showed pilots were legally intoxicated. Pilots were eventually sentenced to prison for operating an aircraft while intoxicated. | none |
| America West Flight 794 | August 28, 2002 | A320-231 | Phoenix, Arizona | Pilot failed to maintain directional control during landing, causing the aircraft to veer off the side of the runway onto the dirt infield, and the nose gear strut to collapse. Aircraft was written off. NTSB brief | 1 serious, 9 minor |
| America West Flight 402 | June 5, 2003 | A320-231 | Payson, Arizona | In-flight encounter with turbulence caused a flight attendant to break her foot. NTSB brief | 1 serious |
| America West Flight 142 | June 02, 2006 | A319 | Sitka, Alaska | En route Anchorage-Las Vegas (HP142) was forced to divert to Sitka AK as a result of a cracked windshield. |
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America West Airlines*
America West Fleet Detail*
Guide to earning miles on America West
