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US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called
All American Aviation All American Aviation was an airline company founded by Lytle Schooler Adams in 1937. It evolved over the decades to become Allegheny Airlines, then USAir and subsequently US Airways, with the latter's merger with American Airlines in 2013 crea ...
, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed
Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself me ...
and operated under that name for a quarter-century. In October 1979, after the passage of the
Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Bo ...
, Allegheny Airlines changed its name to USAir. A decade later it had acquired
Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlin ...
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 In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
agreements. The airline had severe financial difficulties in the early 2000s, filing for
chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
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. The holding companies of American and US Airways merged effective December 9, 2013. 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. US Airways management runs the combined airline from the American headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. 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. Its first hub was in Pittsburgh, and it operated fortress hubs in
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, and Washington–Reagan. The final US Airways flight was San Francisco to Philadelphia via Phoenix and
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, operating as Flight 1939 with 1939 commemorating the birth of All American Aviation, which eventually became US Airways. 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, when US Airways' brand was no longer on its planes, employees or assets; however, its livery with the American Airlines name still remains on several aircraft as a nod to the airline.


History


Early years

US Airways traces its history to
All American Aviation All American Aviation was an airline company founded by Lytle Schooler Adams in 1937. It evolved over the decades to become Allegheny Airlines, then USAir and subsequently US Airways, with the latter's merger with American Airlines in 2013 crea ...
Inc., a company founded in 1939 by du Pont family brothers
Richard C. du Pont Richard Chichester du Pont (January 2, 1911 – September 11, 1943) was an American businessman and an aviation and glider pioneer who was a member of the prominent Du Pont family. He was the founder of the major US legacy carrier US Airways, ...
and Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. Headquartered 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 Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...
to passenger service; it changed its name again to
Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself me ...
on January 1, 1953. Allegheny's first jet was the Douglas DC-9 in 1966; it absorbed Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972 to become one of the largest carriers in the northeastern United States. In 1973 it was the ninth-largest airline in the free world by passengers carried (and 24th largest by passenger-miles). With expansion came growing pains: in the 1970s Allegheny had the nickname "Agony Air". Allegheny's agreement with
Henson Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlin ...
, the forerunner to today's US Airways Express carrier
Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlin ...
, to operate "Allegheny Commuter" flights was the industry's first code-share agreement, a type of service now offered throughout the industry.


1970s: Deregulation and rebranding

Allegheny changed its name to USAir in 1979 after the passage of the
Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Bo ...
the previous year, which enabled the airline to expand its route network to the southeastern United States. USAir was a launch customer for the
Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...
, as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its growing Florida markets. USAir was the world's largest operator of DC-9 aircraft at the time and approached McDonnell Douglas to negotiate a new design. However, in the late 1970s, the McDonnell Douglas' proposed successor to the DC-9-50 did not suit USAir. After the negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down,
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and produc ...
came forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir selected the new 737 and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, taking delivery of the first plane on November 28, 1984.


1980s: Mergers and expansion

In 1979 USAir's network was east of the Mississippi, plus spokes to Houston and Phoenix; it added Dallas-Ft Worth and Kansas City in 1981, Denver in 1982 and Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in 1983. It acquired two commuter airlines, Pennsylvania Airlines and Suburban Airlines, in 1985. It bought San Diego–based Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in 1986 and Winston-Salem, North Carolina–based
Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlin ...
in 1987. The PSA acquisition was completed on April 9, 1988, and the Piedmont acquisition on August 5, 1989. The PSA acquisition gave USAir a network on the West Coast, while the Piedmont acquisition gave USAir a strong East Coast presence and hubs in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
and
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, which remained hubs for USAir. The Piedmont acquisition in 1989 was the largest airline merger until then and USAir became one of the world's largest airlines, with more than 5,000 flights daily to 134 airports (plus 48 more airports on USAir Express). In the next few years USAir closed down PSA's hubs in California and Piedmont's hubs in Dayton and
Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas * Syracuse, Mi ...
, though both remained focus cities. By 1990 the airline had consolidated its headquarters, moving from Washington National Airport to a new building at Crystal City in Arlington County, Virginia, near the airport. Maintenance and operations headquarters remained at Pittsburgh International Airport.


1990s: Rebranding, fleet modernization, and failed sell-off

In the early 1990s, USAir expanded to Europe with flights to London, Paris, and Frankfurt from its four main hubs. The company formed partnerships, marketing the Trump Shuttle as the "USAir Shuttle" and accepting a large investment from
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ca ...
that started one of the first transatlantic alliances, resulting in several
Boeing 767-200ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...
s being painted in the British Airways livery, but operated by USAir. In 1992, it also invested in a new terminal at its hub in Pittsburgh. In 1996 the alliance between USAir and British Airways ended in a court battle when British Airways announced its intentions to partner with American Airlines. In early 1997 USAir changed its name to US Airways and introduced a new corporate identity. A stylized version of the United States flag was adopted as a new logo. The new branding was applied to terminals and ticket jackets. The airline painted aircraft in deep blue and medium gray with red and white accent lines. That same year, the airline also introduced a single-class subsidiary known as MetroJet, which competed with
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
s like
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
expanding to the East. MetroJet operated
Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...
s, the oldest aircraft in the fleet, allowing it to achieve the best utilization possible before being retired. On November 6, 1996, immediately prior to the rebranding to US Airways, the airline placed an order for up to 400 Airbus A320-series narrow-body aircraft, with 120 firm orders at the time of signing. The order was regarded as the largest bulk aircraft request in history. In 1998 the airline followed with an order for up to 30 Airbus A330-series wide-body aircraft, with an initial firm order for seven of the Airbus A330-300s. These orders enabled US Airways to replace its older aircraft with newer, more efficient aircraft. In 1997 US Airways bought the remains of Trump Shuttle. US Airways expanded its flights to Europe through the end of the decade. Although the airline returned to profitability in the mid-1990s, its route network's concentration in the Northeastern United States and high operating costs prompted calls for the company to merge with another airline.


2000s


2000–2004: September 11 and financial woes

Beginning in 2000 US Airways started retiring aircraft in an attempt to simplify its fleet and reduce costs, replacing many of its older planes with the new
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...
-family aircraft. On March 30, 2000, US Airways received its first
Airbus A330-300 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A3 ...
. On May 24, 2000, US Airways announced plans to be acquired for $4.3 billion by UAL Corp., 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 Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as 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. As the largest carrier at Washington National Airport, US Airways was disproportionately affected by that airport's extended closure following the
September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...
terrorist attacks. The resulting financial disaster precipitated the closure of the airline's MetroJet network, which led to the closing of the subsidiary's primary operating base at
Baltimore-Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internati ...
and the furloughing of thousands of employees. The airline entered
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
on August 11, 2002, but received a government-guaranteed loan through the
Air Transportation Stabilization Board The Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) is an office of United States Department of the Treasury created to assist US airlines in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, sig ...
and was able to exit bankruptcy in 2003 after a relatively short period. The airline made major cost reductions during its bankruptcy, but it still encountered higher-than-average per-seat-mile costs. In 2003, US Airways began exploring the availability of financing and merger partners, and after no financing was available, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in 2004 for the second time in two years. The airline merged in 2005 with America West Airlines. Under terms of the merger agreement, the America West board of directors created two new entities. First, a new "US Airways Group" was created to receive the bankrupt US Airways' assets and form the new corporation. Second, "America West Holdings" was merged into "Barbell Acquisition Corporation", a subsidiary of the new "US Airways Group", on September 27, 2005; through this transaction, "America West Holdings" became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new "US Airways Group". The "America West Holdings" stockholders were required to authorize these changes. Upon completion, 37% of the new "US Airways Group" would be owned by "America West Holdings" stockholders, 11% by the old "US Airways Group" debtholders and 52% by new equity investors. The result was the fifth largest US-based airline in terms of revenue. After the merger was completed on November 4, 2007, the new airline retained the US Airways name, since studies indicated that "US Airways" had better brand recognition worldwide than did "America West". In early 2003, US Airways management liquidated the pensions of its 6,000 pilots by releasing their pensions into the federal pension program Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The company was one of the first major airlines to eliminate pilots' pensions in order to cut costs. Following a trial run of selling in-flight food in 2003, US Airways discontinued free meal service on domestic flights later that year.


2003–2004: Pittsburgh hub conflict

In late 2003-early 2004, US Airways lobbied for lower operating fees at Pittsburgh International Airport, citing its
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables a ...
as the primary carrier and largest tenant at the airport. US Airways attempted to leverage its adverse cash position and "red ink" in the years following 9/11 to negotiate better financial terms with the airport. The Allegheny County Airport Authority rejected US Airways' demands for reduced landing fees and lower lease payments, in part due to antitrust and
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
regulations that required the airport operator to extend the same financial terms to all carriers if it accepted US Airways' demands. US Airways threatened to move traffic to rival hubs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, and the airline made good on its threat in November 2004, reducing its flights at Pittsburgh International Airport from primary-hub to secondary-hub status. This action also resulted in the closing of the commuter terminal, also known as concourse E. The airline, led by former ExpressJet Airlines CEO David N. Siegel, continued to demote Pittsburgh International Airport in subsequent years until it became only a focus city airport for the company. By 2010, Pittsburgh was no longer listed as a US Airways focus city. US Airways now operated an average of only 39 departures a day exclusively to domestic destinations, compared to 2001 when it was a hub with 500+ flights a day with service across the United States and to Europe.
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
leaders and most notably the designer of the 1992 modernization of Pittsburgh International,
Tasso Katselas Tasso Katselas (born 1927) is an architect in the United States known for his modernist concrete buildings especially in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His work includes Pittsburgh International Airport, public housing, and mansions. His firm was known ...
, pointed out that the reason fees and payments were higher than average is expressly because US Airways requested the most modern and advanced airport in the world in return for basing its hub there. Katselas has also been vocal that the issue of negotiable fees and payments are irrelevant when compared to the three biggest costs of any airline: fuel, time, and labor, all of which his redesign of PIT from 1987 to 1992 helped to reduce. In fact, those changes created the most efficient, least costly, and least financially wasteful airfield in the world. Although conceding that those updates cost more, he argued they were more than offset by Pittsburgh's vast built-in nonnegotiable fuel and time, and to a lesser degree, labor savings. Local officials maintain that Allegheny County "bent over backwards" to accommodate US Airways and saved them millions of dollars, only to be abandoned. US Airways's abandonment of its Pittsburgh hub nearly bankrupted the Pittsburgh airport itself, since US Airways had signed a 30-year lease and the county had issued $600 million in bonds for construction, which were supposed to be paid by US Air.The Revival of a Once-Bustling Airport
/ref> US Air's move eliminated thousands of jobs and was a financial gut punch for the entire Pittsburgh region; former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said US Air's departure was the "second devastating economic blow after steel in the early '80s."


2004–2005

In August 2004, US Airways attempted to build a Latin American gateway at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, announcing service to 10 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The attempt was largely unsuccessful and short-lived, in part due to Fort Lauderdale's proximity to American Airlines' hub at Miami International Airport and its extensive Latin American network. US Airways also began a process of de-emphasizing its hub-and-spoke system to capitalize on direct flights between major
eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...
airports such as Washington National Airport and New York-LaGuardia. The airline became the 15th member of the Star Alliance on May 4, 2004. Fuel costs and deadlocked negotiations with organized labor, chiefly the
Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 59,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadi ...
, 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 a high volume of employee 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
USDOT The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
found that the problems were caused primarily by poor airline management.


US Airways/America West merger

Even before the second bankruptcy filing of 2004, one of the alternatives US Airways Group explored was a possible merger with America West, as the two airlines had complementary networks and similar labor costs. The parties held preliminary discussions and conducted due diligence from February through July 2004. Ultimately, these talks ended due to issues related to labor, pension, and benefit costs. By December 2004, US Airways had cut labor costs significantly. Its investment adviser, the Seabury Group, suggested putting the airline up for sale. The following month, US Airways Group and America West Holdings resumed their discussions. On May 19, 2005, both airlines officially announced the merger deal, structured as a
reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compan ...
. Financing for the deal was supplied by outside investors including
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
, an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of
EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
, the European aerospace consortium. Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation, operator of numerous ''US Airways Express'' flights, and
ACE Aviation Holdings ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. is a Canadian holding company that is the former parent company of Air Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal. In 2012, the company signified its intent to dissolve, but is still undergoing liquidation as of 2020. Hi ...
, the parent company of
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
, also bought shares in the combined airline. The merged airline retained the US Airways name to emphasize its national scope, as well as to capitalize on US Airways' worldwide recognition, Dividend Miles frequent flyer program, and Star Alliance membership. On September 13, 2005, America West shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement and three days later the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approved US Airways' emergence from bankruptcy, allowing the merger to close on September 27. Since the merger, US Airways had been headquartered at the former America West corporate offices in Tempe, Arizona, and America West executives and board members were largely in control of the merged company. The company's aircraft merged FAA operating certificate included America West's airline call sign and identifiers "CACTUS" and "AWE".


Post-2005 merger

During 2006, the airline began consolidating its operations under the US Airways brand. Operations were not fully integrated until October 2008, when government approval was obtained to allow the airlines to operate under a single
operating certificate Operating certificate is a category of license issued by a government agency allowing an individual or company to provide a controlled type of service. These certificates are generally issued for a limited time period. Certificates can have intr ...
. In May 2006, the US Airways and America West web sites were merged. The new US Airways web site united the two brands using graphics and styles reflective of the airline's new livery and services. In July 2006, US Airways and America West ordered 20 new
Airbus A350 The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 ...
aircraft. In December 2006, US Airways became the first American "legacy" carrier to add the Embraer 190 to its mainline fleet. It remains one of only two American carriers to operate the E190 in scheduled service,
jetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
being the other. At the end of 2006, US Airways made a bid for competitor Delta Air Lines, which it opposed, treating it as a hostile takeover by US Airways. The final bid was valued at $10 billion but was withdrawn on January 31, 2007, since US Airways failed to secure backing from Delta's creditors. The airline stated that it would no longer pursue a possible takeover of Delta. Aircraft were equipped with Verizon
Airfone Airfone was an air-ground radiotelephone service developed by MCI founder John D. Goeken, and operated under the names ''Airfone'', ''GTE Airfone'', and Verizon Airfone. Airfone allowed passengers to make telephone calls (later including data ...
in every row of seats. Since Verizon ended this service, the airline has deactivated the service and as of 2007, has removed the phones or has covered them in all aircraft. Overnight on March 4, 2007, the US Airways and America West computer reservation systems merged. US Airways, which previously used the Sabre airline computer system, switched to the new QIK system, an overlay for the SHARES system, that had been used by America West. A few of the features from the Sabre system were incorporated into the new joint system, with the most prominent being the continued utilization of the Sabre ramp partition "DECS" for all computer functions related to weight and balance, aircraft loading and technical flight tracking within the company. America West Airlines and the US Airways merged FAA certificates on September 25, 2007. Former America West employees (including pilots, fleet service personnel, flight attendants) remained on their original America West union contracts and did not fully combine workforces with their pre-merger US Airways counterparts. Until October 2008, former America West aircraft flew with their respective crews and used the call sign "CACTUS", while the pre-merger US Airways crews primarily flew with their respective aircraft and used the call sign "US AIR". In October 2008, the company began operating under a single operating certificate (that of the former US Airways). This required operation under a single call sign and identifier and that of America West ("CACTUS" and "AWE") were chosen as a sign of the company lineage. In addition, flights operated using former America West aircraft and crews were numbered 1–699, whereas flights operated by pre-merger US Airways aircraft and crews were numbered 700–1999. (Flights numbered 2000–2199 were shuttle services and those 2200 and higher were operated by express subsidiaries.) Aircraft operated by pre-merger US Airways crews or former America West crews flew under two different United States Department of Transportation operating certificates until September 25, 2007. However, until pilot and flight attendant union groups from both sides successfully negotiated a single contract, each group of crewmembers would fly only on its pre-merger airlines' aircraft and the flights would be marked accordingly. Since the computer systems were merged, former America West-operated flights were marketed as though America West was a wholly owned carrier. This marketing is common practice for airlines that have code-share agreements with other airlines operating aircraft for feeder or regional routes and although the practice is uncommon for major airlines, it greatly simplified the process for passengers connecting between historically US Airways-operated flights and former America West-operated flights. In the summer of 2007, US Airways began upgrading its in-flight services, from food and entertainment to the training of flight attendants. The airline was planning to test-market a new seatback entertainment system in early 2008, however, the 2008 fuel crisis ended those plans. As a further result of the skyrocketing fuel costs, the airline rolled back the planned summer 2007 service upgrades as well as ending its existing in-flight entertainment on all domestic routes.


2007

A
Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Founde ...
survey of 23,000 readers in June 2007 ranked US Airways as the worst airline for customer satisfaction. The survey was conducted before the airline's March 2007 service disruptions. A follow-up survey polling a smaller sample size, conducted in April, found that US Airways remained in last place, with its score dropping an additional 10 points. Also in 2007, the Today/Zagat Airline Survey rated US Airways as the worst airline overall in the United States, ranking it 10/30 for comfort, 5/30 for food, 10/30 for service and 15/30 for its online reservations system. On August 1, 2008, US Airways ceased providing free drinks; passengers could buy bottled water or soda for $2 or coffee and tea for $1. Shuttle flights between LGA, DCA and
BOS ''Bos'' (from Latin '' bōs'': cow, ox, bull) is the genus of wild and domestic cattle. ''Bos'' is often divided into four subgenera: ''Bos'', ''Bibos'', ''Novibos'', and ''Poephagus'', but including these last three divisions within the ge ...
continued to offer free beverages. US Airways resumed serving complimentary drinks in March 2009. US Airways ranked last out of 20 domestic airline carriers for on-time performance in March, April, and May 2007, according to DOT figures. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics June 2008 report (using data from May 2008), US Airways ranked seventh for percentage of on-time arrivals. US Airways was the leader in service complaints with 4.4 complaints per 100,000 customers. The US Airways rate of customer complaints was 7.5 times the rate of JetBlue (0.59 complaints per 100,000 customers) and 11 times the rate of
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
(0.4 complaints per 100,000 customers). US Airways had a very poor record of addressing customer complaints, answering only 50% of the telephone calls to its customer service department. By September 2007, US Airways continued to downgrade Pittsburgh International Airport's status from 500 flights a day (with 12,000 employees) in 2001 to just 68 flights a day (with only 1,800 employees). CEO Parker stated his frustration at the economics of Pittsburgh and referred to the possibility of service further decreasing. This represented a further deterioration of a strained relationship with Allegheny County, with which the airline shared significant historical ties. US Airways Group Inc. said October 3, 2007 it would cut mainline flights at Pittsburgh International Airport to 22 a day from 31 and reduce regional flights to 46 a day from 77, beginning January 6, 2008, essentially reducing the airport to a destination spoke in its network. Pittsburgh was no longer a focus city for the airline as of its most recent annual report and January 2008 flight schedule reductions.


2008

US Airways East pilots took steps to relinquish their
ALPA Alpa was formerly a Swiss camera design company and manufacturer of 35 mm SLR cameras. The current owners bought the company name after bankruptcy of the original company and the company exists today as a designer and manufacturer of high-en ...
membership and form their own in-house union. "East" pilots were dissatisfied with the results of binding arbitration when the arbitrator's ruling placed all active former America West pilots, including their most junior pilot, who had been hired only three months previous to the merger, ahead of furloughed US Airways pilots with up to seventeen years of service. The former US Airways pilots petitioned the National Mediation Board to conduct a vote to determine whether to replace their union. East pilots (3,200) outnumbered west pilots (1,800) and the proposed union's president stated that the union had a sufficient number of requests to call a vote according to National Mediation Board regulations. The new union would be called the
US Airline Pilots Association The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) was the collective bargaining agent for the majority former US Airways "East" pilots, and the minority former America West Airlines "West" pilots. USAPA was led by East pilot Mike Cleary. USAPA was form ...
(USAPA). On April 17, 2008, USAPA was voted in as the sole bargaining agent for the pilots of US Airways, East and West. It took more than a year to correct problems stemming from the merger and by 2008, US Airways was one of the best performers among the legacy carriers. The carrier had the best departure and arrival performances among the other major US carriers. Because of the strong On-Time departure and On-Time arrival performances, it was the number one major carrier. Northwest was the only other carrier that had better performances but became a part of Delta during that year. On April 25, 2008, it was reported that US Airways was in talks to merge its operations with either
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
or United Airlines, partially as a response to the recent Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines merger. Then, on April 28, 2008, reports stated that US Airways would announce its intent to merge with United within two weeks. At the end of May 2008, the airline announced that merger talks were formally ended. On May 20, 2008, according to the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index by the University of Michigan, US Airways ranked last in customer satisfaction among the major airlines. However, it was making steady ground to bridge its gap with other airlines. In late 2008, US Airways closed its Las Vegas hub, which was part of the America West network.


2009

On January 15, 2009, an Airbus A320 registered N106US,
Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...
under the command of Captain
Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 af ...
, flying from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to
Charlotte Douglas International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles west ...
,
ditched In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water su ...
into the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New ...
shortly after takeoff. Multiple bird hits from a flock of
Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...
caused both engines to lose power. All 150 passengers and 5 crew members (2 pilots and 3 flight attendants) survived. New York's
Governor David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...
called it "the miracle on the Hudson". US Airways received its first Airbus A330-200 in June 2009. In mid-2009 it was reported that US Airways, along with American Airlines and United Airlines was placed under credit watch. Experts say several factors, including capital and revenue, played a role in the airline's addition to the list. On October 2, US Airways reported that it had a buyer for 10 of its 25 Embraer 190 Aircraft. The remaining 15 aircraft were scheduled to be redeployed to Boston where they would operate Boston to Philadelphia and the Boston to New York LaGuardia leg of the US Airways Shuttle service. On December 8, 2009, US Airways began service to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão airport operated by a Boeing 767-200, its first route to South America.


2010s

The Airline continued to operate scheduled flights and profits were seen to be sustainable. The airline was in good shape. 2010 was a better year for the airline due to no recorded incidents or accidents following the ditching of flight 1549 the previous year. The airline was profitable up to the merging with American Airlines in 2015.


2010

US Airways cut many routes to close its focus cities at Las Vegas,
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
, and
New York LaGuardia LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...
. The airline was given tentative government approval to trade many of its LaGuardia takeoff and landing slots to Delta Air Lines in exchange for Delta's slots at Washington National. This exchange would strengthen each airline's presence at both airports. The DOT gave approval pending the carriers selling a small percentage of their routes to other carriers. US Airways and Delta disagreed with the decision and said they planned to sue the US DOT. On April 7, 2010, '' The New York Times'' reported that US Airways was "deep in merger discussions" with United Airlines. The report stated that a deal would not be reached for several weeks, but indicated that a deal was close. Several weeks later, however, on April 22, 2010, the airline ended discussions with United regarding the merger. Shortly thereafter, United announced that it would merge with
Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...
instead.


2011

In April 2011, US Airways earned the top spot in the 2011 Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report among "Big-Five" hub-and-spoke carriers. US Airways President Scott Kirby said that US Airways was the last viable airline in the U.S. to merge and that any potential merger would be with one of three U.S. carriers: United Airlines,
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
or Delta Air Lines. Kirby also commented that US Airways' membership in the Star Alliance would make a merger with United Airlines easier, but added that "it's not meaningful enough to really be a factor". Among the 10 largest domestic airlines, consumers scored US Airways last for overall customer satisfaction in a May 2011 ''
Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Founde ...
'' survey. In May 2011, '' Business Insider'' reported that American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) ranked US Airways sixth in a list of "The 19 Most Hated Companies in America". In July 2011, the pilots' union, USAPA, purchased a full-page advertisement in ''USA Today'', questioning US Airways management's commitment to safety. US Airways transmitted a communication to all of its employees, on the same day as the ad, denying the accusations. In September 2011, US Airways requested and was granted an injunction against the pilots, claiming the pilots union, USAPA, was using their commitment to safety as a negotiating tactic.


2012

In January 2012, US Airways expressed interest in taking over bankrupt carrier
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
.
Tom Horton Dr. Thomas Horton is a fictional character and patriarch of the Horton family on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. He was played by Macdonald Carey Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best ...
, CEO of American parent
AMR Corporation AMR Corporation was an airline holding company based in Fort Worth, Texas, which was the parent company of American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, AmericanConnection and Executive Airlines. AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protecti ...
, said in March that American was open to a merger. A Bloomberg News report dated March 23, 2012, stated that US Airways had been in talks with AMR's creditors about a takeover bid. On December 7, 2012, US Airways announced a merger proposal with
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
. The merger required approval from a bankruptcy judge, which was successful. The combined airline would keep the American Airlines name and would be based in American's hometown of
Fort Worth Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...
.


2013

On February 14, 2013, US Airways Group and AMR Corporation announced that the two companies would merge to form the largest airline in the world. In the deal, shareholders of AMR would own 72% of the new company and US Airways Group shareholders would own the remaining 28%. The combined airline would carry the American Airlines name and branding, while US Airways' management team, including CEO Doug Parker, would retain most operational management positions. The headquarters for the new airline would also be consolidated at American's current headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. On August 13, 2013, the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
along with attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, arguing that it would mean less competition and higher prices. Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, states where either American or US Airways maintained a large presence, were among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, as was Tennessee. On November 12, 2013, the two companies reached a deal with the Department of Justice. That allowed the companies to complete the merger on December 9, 2013.


Final years and ceasing operations

On April 8, 2015, American Airlines flights operated by US Airways retired the Cactus callsign used by US Airways since the America West merger. The final flight to use it was Flight 774 from London-Heathrow to Philadelphia. On July 13, 2015, American announced that it planned to discontinue the US Airways brand name on October 17, 2015. On that date, US Airways made its final flight: Flight 1939 (originally named Flight 434, changed for the year the airline was founded), using an
Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the ba ...
registered N152UW, and would take off as US Airways Flight 1939 and land as American Airlines Flight 1939. The flight originated from
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
at 10:05 AM, October 16, 2015, continuing to
Charlotte Douglas International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles west ...
, then to
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in th ...
, and then to San Francisco International Airport. (The final flight did not stop in Pittsburgh, which some local officials regarded as the "final insult" by US Air to Pittsburgh.)US Airways goes on final flight, and skips Pittsburgh
/ref> The aircraft made its final leg on the evening of October 16, as a
red-eye flight In commercial aviation, a red-eye flight is a flight scheduled to depart at night and arrive the next morning. Another definition of a red-eye flight is one that takes place overnight but does not provide enough time for passengers to get a full n ...
from San Francisco International Airport back to Philadelphia International Airport. It landed ahead of schedule at 5:52 AM EDT, and at that point, the US Airways brand and all operations under its name were officially terminated.


Company affairs and identity


Headquarters

Prior to the merger with American Airlines, US Airways had its headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, in
Greater Phoenix The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...
. The nine-story, building was originally occupied by America West Airlines. Jahna Berry of the ''Arizona Business Gazette'' said in 2005 that the building "is one of the dominant buildings in downtown Tempe". It is located in proximity to the southwest intersection of Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue. The city of Tempe gave America West $11 million in incentives and tax breaks so it would occupy what became the US Airways headquarters, which cost $37 million to construct. Construction began in January 1998, although the official groundbreaking ceremony was held on February 19 of that year. By of 2006 over 700 employees worked in the building. On May 31, 2013, W.P. Carey Inc. gave 75% interest in the US Airways headquarters to
Parkway Properties Inc. Parkway Properties, Inc. was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings in the Sun Belt. In 2016, the company was acquired by Cousins Properties. Notable properties owned by the company included Liberty Place, Phoenix ...
for $41.8 million or $185 per square foot. As of December 2013, 780 employees worked in the building. After the merger between
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
and US Airways concluded, Hayley Ringle of the ''
Phoenix Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' stated in December 2013 that the facility became "just a large office of
American Airlines Group American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways ...
". That month, John McDonald, the
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
vice president of corporate communications and public affairs stated that the US Airways headquarters would continue to be used for at least five years and for the time being most of the employees at the US Airways headquarters would remain. Previously US Airways had its headquarters in Crystal Park Four, a class A mixed-use development in Crystal City,
Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, near
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Park Four is between Reagan National Airport,
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metonym ...
, and the District of Columbia. After the merger with America West Airlines, the company decided to close its Virginia headquarters and moved the employees into the former America West building in three to six months after the merger closed. Russell Grantham at ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' said that the decision to move the headquarters to Tempe was not that difficult because the Crystal City facility "consisted of like two or three floors of people."


Flight Operations Center

Pittsburgh International Airport won a three-way competition between Phoenix and
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
in 2007 for the right to continue as US Airways' Global Flight Operations center. Opening in November 2008, US Airways invested more than $25 million ($ million today) into a facility. It replaced a smaller 11-year-old (pre-merger) operations center closer to downtown Pittsburgh. The state-of-the-art Ops Center opened ahead of schedule and was home to approximately 600 employees. It served as the nerve center for all of US Airways' nearly 1,400 daily mainline flights. As part of its merger with
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
, the airline intended to close the flight operations center and would consolidate with the American Airlines Integrated Flight Operations Center near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the headquarters of American Airlines. The move was expected to take within 18 months. It was announced that the operations center would close on August 23, 2015.


Community support


Do Crew

The US Airways ''Do Crew'' program was the airline's employee community-service program. Employee volunteers in the program participated in community-based projects on a monthly basis through local chapters in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, Las Vegas, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh,
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.


Livery

US Airways had various liveries under the US Airways name. In general, the Express and Shuttle divisions had liveries that closely paralleled the company-wide livery, but later shared the same aircraft with mainline US Airways. The pre-2005 US Airways had a dark blue livery; after it merged with America West, US Airways, switched to a mostly white livery. Following US Airways merger with
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
, US Airways aircraft were painted into the American Airlines livery. The first jet to re-enter revenue service in the American livery in January 2014 was an Airbus A319, tail number N700UW, which previously sported a Star Alliance scheme. One aircraft, an Airbus A321 under registration N578UW, has been left unpainted in the US Airways livery, as one of American's heritage aircraft. The actual US Airways logo near the front of the fuselage has been replaced with the American Airlines logo, but the rest of the aircraft remains in US Airways livery.


Slogans

*USAir – "Fly the USA on USAir" *USAir (late 1980s) – "USAir is Your Choice" *PSA and USAir (late 1980s) – "Now our smile is even wider." *USAir (early 1990s) – "USAir Begins With You" *USAir (mid 1990s) – "Fly the Flag With USAir" *US Airways (early 2000s) – "Where I Fly the Flag" *US Airways (post 9/11) – "The Carrier of Choice" *US Airways (first bankruptcy) – "Together We Fly" *US Airways (post first bankruptcy) – "Clear Skies Ahead" *US Airways (post America West merger) – "Fly with US" *US Airways (post American Airlines merger) – "The new American is arriving"


Destinations

US Airways operated 3,031 flights a day to 193 destinations in 24 countries from its hubs in Phoenix, Charlotte, and Philadelphia. US Airways' routes were concentrated along the East Coast of the United States, Southwestern United States, and the Caribbean, with a number of routes serving Europe and primary destinations along the U.S. West Coast. The airline's western U.S. presence had increased following the merger with America West. Codesharing with United Airlines (before leaving the Star Alliance) had helped US Airways by enabling the airline to offer its customers service throughout the Midwest, Great Plains, and
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
states. Services to South America, Asia, and Australia also were offered via the American Airlines codeshare. Likewise, American passengers benefitted from increased access via US Airways to the U.S. East Coast, Europe, and the Caribbean. US Airways Express carriers operated a large number of domestic routes, primarily into US Airways' hubs and focus cities, but with some exceptions, particularly small markets where the regional express carriers operated service under the EAS program, as well as some point-to-point commuter routes in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions and south through the Carolinas. Before US Airways completely merged into
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
, US Airways was the last and only major US airline that has never flown to
Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, although it had codeshares with American Airlines and most Asian air carriers partnered in the OneWorld Alliance. In 2007 the airline applied for flights to
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
, Colombia, but the U.S. Department of Transportation denied the application after the agency awarded Delta Air Lines,
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
, and Spirit Airlines the routes from Delta's New York-JFK hub, JetBlue from Orlando and Spirit from Fort Lauderdale. In 2008, US Airways and other airlines struggled with the price of fuel. Despite that, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said "It hiladelphiais our international gateway. We'd like to expand that". Service to London Heathrow Airport began in March 2008. The airline also added three international flights during the summer of 2009, including Tel Aviv, from Philadelphia. US Airways also started year-round service between Charlotte and Rio de Janeiro, which was discontinued in early 2015. In 2009 US Airways and Delta reached an agreement to exchange landing/takeoff slots at LaGuardia Airport and
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...
. US Airways also planned to receive additional route authority to São Paulo from Delta as a result of this transaction. Service to São Paulo from its Charlotte hub was discontinued on October 1, 2014. On November 21, 2012, the airline was awarded a landing slot at London Heathrow Airport for nonstop flights between Charlotte and London Heathrow Airport, complementing the existing route from Philadelphia to London Heathrow. The airline began service from Charlotte to Heathrow on March 30, 2013, replacing its service from Charlotte to Gatwick, which ended the airline's service at Gatwick.


Codeshare agreements

US Airways had
codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
s with the following airlines : *
Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was ...
*
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
(Merger partner) *
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ca ...
* Finnair * Hawaiian Airlines (Hawaii inter-island routes only) * Iberia * Qatar Airways * Royal Jordanian * TAM Airlines ;Former agreements *
Big Sky Airlines Big Sky Airlines was an American commuter air carrier that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of ...
(ceased operations March 8, 2008) * Caribbean Sun (ceased to exist when the airline shut down on January 31, 2007) *
Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...
(codeshared with America West Airlines and ended the agreement on May 1, 2002, citing low code-shared flight sales; Continental resumed its reciprocal frequent flyer agreement on October 25, 2009, when it joined the Star Alliance and ended the agreement in 2012 when it merged with United) * Northwest Airlines (codeshared with America West Airlines on flights from Asia; Northwest merged with Delta in 2010) *
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
(codeshared with both US Airways in the 1990s and America West Airlines before the merger; and after the merger with the combined US Airways/America West Airlines and ended the agreement February 28, 2007 due to Qantas being in the competing Oneworld airline alliance) *
Aegean Airlines Aegean Airlines S.A. ( el, Αερογραμμές Αιγαίου Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία ''Aeroporía Aigaíou Anónimi Etairía'', ) is the flag carrier airline of Greece and the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carri ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, B ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacifi ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Asiana Airlines Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.Home
." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) * Avianca (ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Brussels Airlines Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Croatia Airlines Croatia Airlines Ltd. is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Croatia. Its headquarters are in Buzin near Zagreb and operates domestic and international services mainly to European destinations. Its main hub is Zagreb International Airport ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
EVA Air EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated carg ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) * Lufthansa (ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) * South African Airways (ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
Spanair Spanair S.A. was a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. Until 2009, it was a subsidiary of the SAS Group; the same parent company in control of Scandinavian Airlines and held ...
(ended with Spanair's collapse in January 2012) * Swiss International Air Lines (ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) *
TAP Portugal TAP Air Portugal is the currently state-owned flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and oper ...
(ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance) * United Airlines (ended with US Airways' withdrawal from Star Alliance)


Fleet

By mid-2014, US Airways maintained a predominantly Airbus fleet, with some Boeing jets and small fleet of Embraer jets. The post-merger US Airways continued to operate the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world. Subsidiaries Piedmont and PSA exclusively flew
Bombardier CRJ The Bombardier CRJ or CRJ Series (for Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was formerly manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, t ...
s (PSA), and de Havilland Canada Dash 8s (Piedmont).


Cabin


Envoy

Envoy was US Airways' international
business class Business class is a travel class available on many commercial airlines and rail lines, known by brand names which vary, by airline or rail company. In the airline industry, it was originally intended as an intermediate level of service between ...
product. It was offered on all Airbus A330s and Boeing 767-200ERs, as well as select Boeing 757-200s. There were three types of Envoy seating in the US Airways fleet: * Fully flat suites in a reverse herringbone 1–2–1 configuration were found on all Airbus A330s. These were the ''Cirrus'' model designed by Sicma Aeroseat and featured a fully flat semi-private "pod". * Internationally configured Boeing 757-200s and all 767-200ERs featured deep recline cradle seats with around 165 degrees of recline. Previously, the first row of all Airbus A330-300s were fully flat seats, formerly US Airways' international first class product. With the transition from three- to two-class international service, these seats were, for a time, offered at a fee to Envoy customers. Every seat had a personal on-demand video screen either attached to the arm rest or as a portable unit passed out by the crew that offered movies, games and syndicated television shows in multiple languages. There was also an EmPower or AC outlet at each seat. The airline offered complimentary food and beverage service for all Envoy passengers.


First Class

First Class was offered on all domestically configured aircraft. Seat pitch ranged from and a seat width ranging from . Free wine, beer and spirits and a snack basket were offered on all flights, as were blankets. Meals were provided on flights of 2.5 hours or longer.


Main Cabin

Main Cabin (Economy Class) was available on all aircraft, with a seat pitch ranging from and a seat width ranging from . Domestic service was a buy-on-board program with full meals available for purchase on flights of 3.5 hours or longer, while shorter flights offered snack boxes. Coffee, tea and soft drinks were complimentary with alcohol available for purchase. Transatlantic and South American flights included standard meals and beverages (including wine) free of charge, with premium meals available for purchase, which included one alcoholic beverage.


Inflight entertainment

US Airways offered GoGo Inflight Internet on Airbus A319/A320/A321 and Embraer E170/E175/E190 aircraft. US Airways had also signed up for GoGo Vision streaming video service which would be available on all GoGo equipped aircraft. Flights to Europe, South America, Hawaii, and domestic flights over 700 miles operated with Boeing aircraft featured movies and TV episodes on overhead screens in Coach. The Airbus A330s featured AVOD at every seat in both Economy and Business Class with a selection of movies, TV episodes, music, and games. Complimentary headsets were available in both Business and Economy on flights to Europe, South America, and the Middle East. GoGo was usually priced US$5–15 on domestic flights. It was never available on international flights.


Dividend Miles

Dividend Miles was US Airways Group's
frequent-flyer program A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
. Members earned one mile for every mile flown on US Airways on any published fare – paid flights taken in First Class or Envoy received a 50% mileage bonus. Members also earned miles on flights on partner airlines and for partner hotel stays, car rentals, shopping at the Dividend Miles mall and for purchases made with a US Airways credit card. Miles could be redeemed for free flights, upgrades, and more. Dividend Miles was to be absorbed into
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
's AAdvantage program in the second quarter of 2015. However, American Airlines announced on March 13, 2015, that Dividend Miles would be merged into American's AAdvantage program "within the next 30 days". On March 24, 2015, it was confirmed that Dividend Miles would be absorbed into American's AAdvantage program on March 28, 2015. On March 28, 2015, Dividend Miles was officially absorbed into American Airlines's AAdvantage program. In addition to its US Airways Express and Oneworld partnerships, the Dividend Miles program with other partner airlines or programs included: *
Aegean Airlines Aegean Airlines S.A. ( el, Αερογραμμές Αιγαίου Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία ''Aeroporía Aigaíou Anónimi Etairía'', ) is the flag carrier airline of Greece and the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carri ...
*
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, B ...
* Hawaiian Airlines * Jet Airways * Shenzhen Airlines * South African Airways *
TAP Portugal TAP Air Portugal is the currently state-owned flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and oper ...
*
Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the ...


Airport lounges


US Airways Club

US Airways'
airport lounge An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal itself, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and often better acce ...
was called the US Airways Club. There were 19 lounges in 13 airports across the United States. As part of the merger, all US Airways clubs were gradually rebranded as American's Admirals Clubs in 2014, except for a few that closed. In addition to those with paid memberships, the following customers also had complimentary access to Admirals Club locations: * Passengers traveling in Business Class (renamed from Envoy Class) on an international flight * Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, except American's AAdvantage members and US Airways Dividend Miles members who were travelling domestically.


Envoy Lounge

Philadelphia International Airport's Terminal A formerly had an Envoy Lounge reserved exclusively for Envoy Class, Star Alliance international premium passengers, and Star Alliance Gold members traveling on long-haul international flights. Due to the lounge's proximity to departing long-haul international flights, this lounge offered a much wider array of food than was typically found at US Airways Clubs. In 2011, the airline converted the Envoy Lounge into a standard US Airways Club, now an Admirals Club.


Accidents and incidents

The incidents and crashes listed below include only those of US Airways and US Air (not predecessor or merger airlines such as Allegheny, Piedmont, PSA or America West; or partnering regional commuter airlines operating US Airways flights under the brand US Airways Express).


See also

* List of airlines of the United States * List of defunct airlines of the United States *
List of airports in the United States The list of airports in the United States is broken down into separate lists due to the large number of airports. Primary airports Public-use and military airports in each U.S. state and territory can be found on the following lists: Airports ...
*
Air transportation in the United States The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each
* Transportation in the United States * Footprint Center (formerly Talking Stick Resort Arena)


References


External links


Official website
(Archive)
Official website
(Mobile) *
US Airways
at YouTube

has several Allegheny timetables from 1949 to 1963, showing where they flew, how often, how long it took and how much it cost. {{DEFAULTSORT:Us Airways American Airlines Group Airlines established in 1939 Defunct airlines of the United States Companies based in Tempe, Arizona Companies based in Virginia Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004 Former Oneworld members Former Star Alliance members Articles containing video clips Airlines disestablished in 2015 American companies established in 1939 Airlines based in Arizona Airlines based in Virginia