note
Formed as All American Aviation and began air mail flights on May 12, 1939 using a Stinson Reliant from its base in Pittsburgh. After changing its name to All American Airways, company began passenger services with a DC-3 on March 7, 1949. By the end of that year ithey had expanded to 36 cities. On January 1, 1953 it became Allegheny Airlines and by then was operating 13 DC-3s. In 1955 it acquired the first of what would be a fleet of 18 Martin 202s. As longer flights were anticipated, Allegheny acquired a fleet of Convair 340s with plans to convert them to Napier-powered turboprop Convair 540s. The first of the 540s entered service on July 1, 1959. When Rolls-Royce acquired Napier, it canceled the 540 conversion program, and the five aircraft delivered were converted back to 340s. The airline acquired additional 440s to phase out the DC-3s. In 1960, it moved its corporate headquarters to Washington-National Airport. In 1965 it began the process of converting its piston Convairs to Allison Jet-Prop 580s. It also would acquire a small fleet of Fairchild F-27Js which replaced the remaining Martins 202s. Three of the Martins were relegated to airfreight services. The jet age arrived for Allegheny on September 1, 1966, with the lease of s DC-9-14 from Bonanza. Its own fleet of DC-9-30s would begin arriving the following year. By now the Allegheny route network spread from Boston to Detroit, and south to Norfolk and Newport News. Allegheny merged with Lake Central on July 1, 1968 which added many more routes in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as more Convairs and a small fleet of Nord 262s. Two Boeing 727-200s were added in 1970. On April 12, 1972 Allegheny merged with Mohawk Airlines, bringing important routes in update New York and New England. With the merger came a fleet of BAC One-Elevens and Fairchild FH-227s. The FH-227s were grounded almost immediately, replaced by Convairs. The One-Eleven fleet was augmented with eight more units from Braniff, for which Allegheny's Boeing 727s were traded. In 1975 it began to convert some of its Nord 262s to a PT6-powered version called Mohawk 298. These aircraft would be used to replace Convairs on thinner routes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This operation was dubbed Allegheny Metro Express. This operation would eventually be turned over to Allegheny Commuter carriers. The company acquired several DC-9-50s in 1975, but these were poorly suited to the Allegheny route system and were traded to Eastern for DC-9-30s. With airline deregulation in 1978, Allegheny was set for big expansion, acquiring more new DC-9s, some used United 727s. With the airlines route system moving west and south, The airline changed its name to USAir on October 28, 1979. In 1982 it formed a holding company, USAir Group, which became parent to airline and other entities (such as leasing and sales). With the introduction of new entrant carriers in the first decade of deregulation, legacy carriers wanted to expand, much of this through merger. US Air acquired PSA on April 9, 1988. and merged with Piedmont Airlines on August 5, 1989. This gave the airline new visibility on the west coast, as well as a stronghold in the southeast. New management elected to change the image of the airline, by introducing a new dark color scheme and changing its name to US Airways February 27, 1997. A proposed merger in 2000 with United failed due to anti-trust issues. US Airways parent and subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy August 11, 2002 after economic downturn. They exited bankruptcy March 31, 2003 with a government-backed loan. US Airways parent and subsidiaries again filed for bankruptcy on September 12, 2004. US Airways Group subsidiaries merged into America West Airlines Holdings, with "New" US Airways Group operating US Airways, America West, and US Airways Group regional carriers. That transaction closed September 27, 2005. In 2006, US Airways Group proposed a merger with Delta as a way to facilitate Delta's exit from bankruptcy. US Airways withdrew its offer after Delta's creditors supported a standalone strategy. On September 26, 2007 America West and US Airways combined operations onto US Airways operating certificate. Due to employee union integration issues, the former fleets of each carrier remained segregated until early 2014, along with their flight crews. Parent US Airways Group merged with a subsidiary of AMR Corp. on December 9, 2013. US Airways and American Airlines combined operations on October 17, 2015, and US Airways Inc. was dissolved on December 30, 2015.
founded - demised (age)
March 1937 - October 17 2015 (78)
headquarters
2345 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA
web
base airports
related operators
current /stored fleet (0)
