US Airways
 |
A US Airways 737 at Chicago O'Hare |
US Airways is an
airline based in
Tempe, Arizona, owned by
US Airways Group, Inc.. As of May 2006, the combined airline is the fifth largest airline in the
United States. It has a fleet of 358 mainline jet aircraft and 295 express aircraft connecting 240 destinations in
North America,
Central America, the
Caribbean,
Hawaii, and
Europe. US Airways currently employs 35,180 people worldwide and operates 3,860 flights worldwide daily.
The airline was acquired by
America West Holdings Corporation in late 2005. Operations are expected to be fully integrated with
America West Airlines by 2007 after government approval allowing the airlines to operate under a single
operating certificate.
US Airways operates hubs in
Charlotte and
Philadelphia. America West Airlines operates hubs at
Phoenix and
Las Vegas. Together as US Airways the two companies have four hubs through out the country. Additionally, US Airways has a secondary hub at
Pittsburgh and
focus city operations at
New York LaGuardia,
Washington Reagan, and
Boston.
The airline operates the
US Airways Shuttle, a US Airways brand which provides hourly service between key
Northeastern markets. Regional airline service is branded as
US Airways Express, operated by contract and subsidiary airline companies.
Early years
US Airways traces its history to
All American Aviation Company, a company founded by
du Pont family brothers
Richard C. du Pont (1911-1943) and
Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. (1905-1996). Hubbed in
Pittsburgh, the airline served the
Ohio River valley in 1939. In 1949, the company was renamed All American Airways as it switched from
airmail to passenger service. The company was again renamed, to
Allegheny Airlines, in 1952.
Allegheny expanded progressively, introducing the
Douglas DC-9 in 1966 and absorbing
Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and
Mohawk Airlines in 1972 to become one of the largest carriers in the northeastern United States.
Allegheny's agreement with
Henson Airlines, the forerunner to today's
US Airways Express carrier
Piedmont Airlines, to provide service under the Allegheny Commuter banner, is generally regarded as the industry's first
code-share agreement, a type of service now routinely offered throughout the industry.
The birth of USAir
Allegheny changed its name to
USAir in 1979 following the passage of the
Airline Deregulation Act the previous year, which allowed the airline to expand its route network to the southern United States. In the early
1980s, its routes in the Northeast were fed by
Ransome Airlines, among others. It was at this time with a new corporate name that the company moved from
Pittsburgh to suburban
Washington, D.C., though it would keep Pittsburgh as its main hub for another two decades.
USAir was the launch customer for the
Boeing 737-300, as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its rapidly-growing Florida markets. USAir was the world's largest operator of
DC-9 aircraft and approached
McDonnell Douglas for a new airplane. However, in the late 1970's, the company was not interested in developing a new variant of the DC-9-50. After negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down,
Boeing stepped forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir chose this aircraft and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, receiving the first plane on
November 28,
1984.
1980s: Mergers and expansion
USAir expanded dramatically in
1987, when it purchased
San Diego-based
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and
Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based
Piedmont Airlines. The mergers gave the airline hubs in
Baltimore and
Charlotte, as well as routes to the West Coast, and Piedmont's transatlantic service to
London Gatwick Airport. When the Piedmont acquisition was completed in
1989, it became the largest merger in airline history.
In the early 1990s, USAir expanded its service to Europe with new flights to
London,
Paris, and
Frankfurt from its three main hubs. The company formed new partnerships, marketing the
Trump Shuttle as the "USAir Shuttle" and accepted a large investment from
British Airways that started one of the first transatlantic
airline alliances. It also invested heavily in a new, state-of-the-art terminal at its hub at
Pittsburgh.
1990s: Rebranding, fleet modernization, and a failed sell-out
In 1996, USAir closed its relationship with British Airways and announced its re-branding as
US Airways. It expanded its flights to Europe through the end of the decade, and bought out the remains of
Trump Shuttle in 1998. That same year it introduced a single-class service known as
MetroJet, which attempted to compete with
low-cost carriers expanding into the East, in particular
Southwest Airlines.
On
November 6,
1996, just following the re-branding to US Airways, US Airways placed an order for up to 400 Airbus A320-series narrowbody aircraft, with 120 firm orders at the time of the order signing. At the time, it was regarded as the largest single aircraft order in history. In 1998, the airline followed with an order for up to 30 Airbus A330-series or A340-series widebody aircraft, with an initial firm order for 7 A330-300 aircraft. These orders accomplished two goals: 1) they allowed US Airways to replace older aircraft with newer, more efficient aircraft; and 2) helped with the re-branding and repositioning of US Airways as the "Global Carrier of Choice".
Although the airline had returned to profitability in the mid-
1990s, its route network's concentration in the
U.S. Northeast and high operating costs prompted calls to merge with another airline. On
May 24,
2000 US Airways announced plans to be acquired for $4.3 billion by
UAL, the parent company of
United Airlines, the world's largest commercial carrier at the time. The complex deal drew immediate objections from
labor unions, consumer advocates, and
antitrust regulators. Negotiations stalled; with both airlines losing money and the deal all but certain to be blocked by the federal government, UAL withdrew its purchase offer on
July 27,
2001, paying US Airways a $50 million penalty for withdrawing from the deal.
Beginning in 2000, US Airways started retiring several aircraft types in an attempt to simplify its fleet to lower costs. These aircraft types were replaced by new A320 aircraft.
2001-2004: 9/11, financial woes, contraction
As the largest carrier at
Washington-Reagan, US Airways was disproportionately impacted by that airport's extended closure following the
September 11 terrorist attacks. The resulting financial disaster precipitated the closure of the airline's
MetroJet subsidiary, the de-hubbing of
Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and the furloughing of thousands of employees. The airline entered
Chapter 11 bankruptcy on
August 11,
2002. The company received a government-guaranteed loan through the
Air Transportation Stabilization Board and was able to exit bankruptcy after a relatively short period. On
October 19,
2005, the loan was repaid when the debt was refinanced with other lenders.
Following an initial trial run of selling in-flight food in
2003, US Airways discontinued complimentary meal service on domestic flights. Bistro sandwiches and salads are now available for purchase on board most flights of over 700 miles (1126 km).
In an attempt to stem further financial losses, in early 2004 US Airways officially de-hubbed
Pittsburgh International Airport, and began a process of de-emphasizing its
hub-and-spoke system to capitalize on direct flights between major
eastern airports such as
Washington-Reagan,
New York-LaGuardia, and
Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood. This emphasis on more direct flights has been undertaken by many airlines of late, as an attempt to capitalize on the highest-profit routes, and is modeled after
Southwest Airlines' system, one which most U.S. airlines used until the mid-1980s.
The airline became the 15th member of the
Star Alliance on
May 4,
2004.
However, high fuel costs and deadlocked negotiations with organized labor (chiefly the
Air Line Pilots Association, who were traditionally the first group to come to a concessionary agreement) forced US Airways into a second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings, on
September 12,
2004. Widespread employee discontent and irregularly high sick calls were blamed by the airline for a staff shortage around the 2004
Christmas holiday, a
public relations disaster which led to speculation that the airline could be liquidated; the
DOT, however, found that the problems were caused mainly due to poor planning by management.
2005: Acquisition by America West
On
May 19,
2005, US Airways Group announced that it would merge with Arizona-based America West Holdings Corporation (parent company of
America West Airlines), whose strength in the
West would complement US Airways' routes in the Northeast, Europe, and the Caribbean. The new entity retains the US Airways name due to its non-regional emphasis, as well as its greater worldwide brand recognition, its Dividend Miles
frequent flyer program, and its participation in the Star Alliance.
Largely an acquisition versus a merger, the new US Airways is headquartered at the former America West corporate offices in Tempe, Arizona, and America West executives and board members are largely in control of the merged company. The acquisition by America West Airlines will include consolidating all aircraft under the US Airways certificate, is scheduled to be completed in 2007, approximately 18-24 months following the merger of the holding companies in 2005. For the initial merger announcement,
click here. Also, see:
Merger with US Airways Group for additional information.
On
September 13,
2005, America West's shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement with 95.5 percent of shareholders approving the transaction.
On
September 16,
2005, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approved US Airways' Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, clearing the way for the merger to be closed on
September 27,
2005, in conjunction with
US Airways Group's emergence from bankruptcy.
On
September 27,
2005, the merger of the two holding companies was completed. The combined airline has branded itself as the "World's Largest Low-Fare Airline". In January of 2006, the airline began consolidating its operations under the US Airways brand.
Beginning January, 2006, all America West flights are branded as US Airways.
On
February 9,
2006, US Airways became the first American "legacy" carrier to add the
Embraer 190 to its mainline fleet.
In May 2006, the US Airways and America West web sites were merged. The new US Airways web site unites the two brands using graphics and styles reflective of the airline's new livery and services.
US Airways' routes are heavily concentrated in the eastern United States and Caribbean, with a number of routes to Europe and several destinations on the west coast. Their west coast presence has increased dramatically following the merger with America West Airlines. US Airways Express carriers operate a number of routes, primarily into US Airways' hubs and focus cities, but with a few exceptions, in particular where smaller US Airways Express carriers operate service under the
EAS program, and also some point-to-point routes in the northeast and Carolinas.
US Airways flies a fleet of twinjets, divided between mostly newer
Airbus aircraft and generally older
Boeing aircraft. As of July, 2006, its fleet includes: [
1]
US Airways is planning to have an all-Airbus international widebody fleet by 2010.
With deliveries scheduled between 2011 and 2013, they will be a launch customer for the new
Airbus A350, with Airbus also providing a $250 million loan to help fund the exit from bankruptcy and merger. The loan has since been paid off and the status of the A350 order is unclear at this time as Airbus has recently announced that production of the new airliner would be delayed another two years.
The combined airline will continue to take delivery of Airbus aircraft ordered by both US Airways and America West before their merger announcement. In 2009, the airline will take delivery of 11 A320-family aircraft that were originally ordered by America West. 19 A320-family and 10 A330-200 aircraft originally ordered by US Airways will be delivered in 2009 and 2010. Along with the A350s, the A330-200s will complete US Airways' transition to an all-Airbus international fleet.
Most US Airways aircraft are equipped with
Verizon Airfone at every row of seats. However, Verizon recently announced that it will be ending this service with the exception of government and corporate aircraft.
Previous aircraft
Previous aircraft flown by USAir or US Airways included:
*
Fokker F28-4000*
Fokker F28-1000*
BAC 1-11*
Boeing 727-100*
Boeing 727-200 (part of 2000 type consolidation replaced by A320 aircraft}
*
Boeing 737-200 (part of 2000 type consolidation replaced by A320 aircraft}
*
Douglas DC-9-30 (part of 2000 type consolidation replaced by A320 aircraft}
*
Fokker F100 (part of 2000 type consolidation replaced by A320 aircraft}
*
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (part of 2000 type consolidation replaced by A320 aircraft}
US Airways has had various different liveries both under the US Airways and USAir name. In general the Express and Shuttle divisions have had liveries that closely parallel the company-wide livery at the time.
In 1979 US Air introduced its new livery, a primarily unpainted plane, with an orange, red, and brown running strip, and a stylized US Air title, with the "A" written as a triangle. [
2] Variations of this livery existed, and included the basic livery on a white fuselage. [
3]
In the late 1980s the company changed its colors to red, white, and blue. The livery adopted under this scheme continued to utilize a primarily unpainted plane, instead with a red running strip, topped by a blue running strip. US Air was converted to a more standard logo, written in a serif font. The tail of the livery was painted blue with red stripes. [
4]
Upon the company's re-branding as US Airways a new livery was introduced, the upper portion of the plane was painted in dark blue, the lower portion of the plane in light grey, separated by a white and red running strip. The US Airways title was painted in a white serif font, accompanied by a stylized flag logo. The tail of the airplane was painted in dark blue, with the stylized flag painted on the tail in grey. [
5] In addition the company's Metrojet division had a livery derived from this livery, instead with a bright red in place of the blue, and the title Metrojet, in place of US Airways. The tail and underbelly of the livery remained the same as the US Airways mainline livery. [
6] Additionally, during this period several planes were painted with the Star Alliance livery, which featured the Star Alliance logo on the tail of the airplane, and the title Star Alliance painted prominently on the airplane. [
7]
 |
New livery of combined airline, announced by America West and US Airways on 2005 Aug 23 |
After the 2005 merger of US Airways and and America West, a new livery was unveiled that incorporates colors from the four airlines that became US Airways:
*Allegheny (red and blue)
*America West (white, orange, turquoise, and waving gray lines)
*Pacific Southwest Airlines (red and orange with a black smile)
*Piedmont Airlines (also red and blue)
Additionally, the logos of these four airlines will be painted in miniature near the main cabin door.
In addition several airplanes have been painted with heritage liveries, incorporating the look of the previous airlines, but including the US Airways titles. [
8] US Airways has displayed considerable historical care in the design of the heritage liveries, repainting the same airplane to achieve a more historically accurate livery.
The Piedmont heritage plane [
9] was repainted in a more accurate blue, the airplane type was painted on the tail to match the Piedmont standard, and the US Airways title was changed to red, to better reflect the Piedmont livery. [
10]
The Allegheny heritage plane [
11] was repainted with a more accurate grey underbelly, a more appropriately sized running strip, and the registration was moved above the window, to more accurately reflect the Allegheny livery. [
12]
The PSA heritage plane was repainted with a larger more accurate smile. [
13]
The America West heritage plane however has not had any similar repainting. [
14]
| Aircraft | Location | Descriptions | Injuries | | ? [15] | February 26, 1998 | Fokker F28 MK 0100 | Birmingham, AL | Struck By Lightning | 92 Uninjured |
| ? [16] | March 11, 1998 | Fokker F100 | Philadelphia, PA | | 1 Serious, 87 Uninjured |
| 5481 [17] | January 08, 2003 | Beech 1900D | Charlotte, NC | | 21 Fatal, 1 Minor |
| ? [18] | October 16, 2003 | Airbus Industrie A319-112 | Tampa, FL | | 1 Serious, 2 Minor, 103 Uninjured |
| ? [19] | October 27, 2004 | Bombardier CL-600-2B19 | Philadelphia, PA | Wing Hit Vehicle | 1 Minor, 41 Uninjured |
| 1821 [20] | June 7, 2005 | Embraer 170 | Washington, DC | Belt Loader Hit Plane | 1 Fatal |
| 1170 [21] | June 9, 2005 | Boeing 737-3B7 | Boston, MA | Runway Incursion with Aer Lingus Flight 132 | 381 Uninjured |
| 4972 [22] | August 02, 2005 | Beech 1900D | Rockland, ME | | 9 Uninjured |
| 4655 [23] | October 16, 2005 | Beech 1900D | Ogdensburg, NY | Plane Struck Coyote During Takeoff | 3 Uninjured |
| 2319 [24] | October 17, 2005 | Bombardier CL-600-2B19 | West Grove, PA | | 51 Uninjured |
| 1251 [25] | November 9, 2005 | Boeing 737-3B7 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Near Collision with Comair Flight 5026 | 2 Uninjured |
| ? [26] | July 22, 2006 | ? | Pittsburgh, PA | Blown Tire | 0 Fatal, 0 Injured |
| 231 [27] | July 27, 2006 | Boeing 737-3B7 | Pittsburgh, PA | Nose Gear Collapse | 1 Injured |
|
The airline's
airport lounge is called the
US Airways Club and includes 22 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.
Locations
*
Baltimore (BWI)*
Boston*
Buffalo*
Charlotte (3)
*
Greensboro*
Hartford*
Las Vegas*
Los Angeles*
London (Gatwick)*
New York (LaGuardia)*
Philadelphia (3)
*
Phoenix (3)
*
Pittsburgh*
Raleigh-Durham*
Tampa*
Washington, DC (Reagan National)*
America West Airlines*
US Airways Center*
US Airways*
US Airways Route Maps*
US Airways Fleet Age*
US Airways Seat Maps and Seat Reviews*
Guide to earning miles on US Airways A Rich Heritage - US Airways "heritage" aircraft*
New US Airways Livery*
US Airways Company Store
