US Airways

US Airways
IATA code :	US
ICAO code :	AWE
Call sign :	CACTUS (transition period April - October 2015 AMERICAN)
Founding:	1937 as All American Aviation
Operation stopped:	2015; merges with American Airlines
Seat:	Tempe , United States
Turnstile :	Charlotte Philadelphia Phoenix Washington-Reagan
Home airport :	Pittsburgh
Company form:	Corporation
IATA prefix code :	037
Management:	Robert Isom ( CEO )
Number of employees:	36,500
Sales:	US $ 11.5 billion (2012)
Passenger volume:	66.1 million (2012)
Alliance :	oneworld (until 2014 Star Alliance )
Frequent Flyer Program :	AAdvantage
Fleet size:	337 (+ 31 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.usairways.com
US Airways started operations in 2015; merged with American Airlines. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Convair CV-580, Allegheny Airlines

US Airways was an American airline based in Tempe (Arizona) that was one of the largest in the world with more than 66 million passengers annually (as of 2013) .

US Airways emerged from a regional airline that mainly served the Northeast of the USA , and began operating as USAir in 1987 after acquiring other airlines with international air traffic. In 2005, US Airways was bought by America West , keeping the name US Airways. Until 2013, the airline was one of the four remaining large scheduled airlines with an extensive route network, the legacy carriers, alongside American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and United Airlines . On December 9, 2013 , US Airways merged with American Airlines to form the largest airline in the world. Until October 16, 2015 there were still flights under the name US Airways , but these were already operated by American Airlines, whose name the merged airline continues. US Airways was 2004-2014 member of the airline alliance Star Alliance and was subsequently until its dissolution to Oneworld .

history

First years

On March 5, 1937, the airline All American Aviation was founded in Pittsburgh , which operated mail flights from 1939 . Along with the first passenger flight on March 7, 1949 with a Douglas DC-3 , the airline was renamed All American Airways .

Allegheny Airlines

A Douglas DC-9 in the Allegheny Airlines livery.

On January 1, 1953, the company name was changed to Allegheny Airlines in allusion to the Allegheny Mountains . The airline's first type of turboprop aircraft was the Convair 540 , which was only active in 1962. The first type of jet aircraft in operation at Allegheny was the Douglas DC-9-14 , which was delivered on May 29, 1966.

From 1967, Allegheny Airlines' route network covered the northeastern United States . Also in 1967, Allegheny founded a group of feeder airlines as Allegheny Commuter , which also included the independent Crown Airlines from Jefferson County (Pennsylvania) , which operated feeder flights from 1969. On April 14, 1967, Allegheny Airlines bought the regional airline Lake Central Airlines , followed by Mohawk Airlines on December 14, 1972 . Up until the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the company expanded and expanded its route network.

USAir

On October 28, 1979, Allegheny Airlines was renamed USAir to give the company name a less regional sound. USAir expanded particularly in 1987 when Pacific Southwest Airlines from San Diego and Piedmont Airlines from Winston-Salem were acquired. With the purchase of Piedmont Airlines from its parent company Piedmont Aviation and the associated flight rights to London-Gatwick , USAir began international air traffic and took over several Boeing 767-200ERs that had previously been in use for Piedmont on this route. USAir was one of the largest airlines in the world for the first time and operated over 5,000 flights a day. In 1990, the company added scheduled flight connections to Frankfurt and in 1992 to Paris to its route network.

The name Piedmont was temporarily given up in 1989 after the full integration of their fleet into USAir , but revived by USAir in 1993 as the feeder airline Henson Airlines, acquired in 1987 (founded in 1961 as Henson Aviation , acquired by Piedmont Aviation in 1983 ) as the new Piedmont Airlines feeder flights for USAir offered. From 1990 onwards, all regional airlines acquired by the group of companies used the uniform USAir Express brand identity . The subsidiary Piedmont Airlines has been owned by American Airlines since 2013 .

US Airways

US Airways headquarters in Tempe

USAir was renamed US Airways in 1996 and introduced a new corporate design . In November 1996 the company signed a contract with the aircraft manufacturer Airbus for the delivery of 150 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family and 250 options, the largest single order in the history of civil aviation. In 1997 the company presented a new business class for its international long-haul flights called the Envoy Class and its airport lounges under the name Envoy Lounge . A First there was at US Airways exclusively for the domestic US market, and there - as with most US carriers - instead of business class. On May 4, 2004, US Airways joined the Star Alliance airline group .

After US Airways had been in financial difficulties since the late 1990s and was under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since September 2004 , it was taken over by America West Airlines on September 27, 2005 . The merged airline kept the name US Airways for marketing reasons . The headquarters was of Arlington ( Virginia ) to Tempe (Arizona) relocated the headquarters of America West. Internally, the US Airways acquired ran as US Airways East , while the former America West Airlines was internally referred to as US Airways West . In September 2008, the merger was completed using a common ICAO code (AWE) and callsign (Cactus).

At the end of 2006, US Airways announced that it was aiming to take over the financially troubled competitor Delta Air Lines , which, however, resisted the takeover plans. US Airways' last takeover bid was $ 10 billion, but had to be withdrawn on February 1, 2007 because not all lenders supported the takeover offer.

From December 2009 a new business class called Envoy Suite was built into the A330 fleet . At the beginning of 2012 there was a slot swap with Delta Air Lines . Here was US Airways slots at LaGuardia Airport from these slots and received for it in Washington-Reagan .

Merger with American Airlines and liquidation

In February 2013, the parent company of American Airlines and US Airways ( US Airways Group and AMR Corporation ) announced that they would merge under the parent company American Airlines Group to form the world's largest airline, American Airlines , and abandon the US Airways brand . In the meantime, the merger was blocked by a competition lawsuit by the US antitrust authorities, and an agreement was reached in November 2013 and the merger was approved.

US Airways ended its membership in the airline alliance Star Alliance on 30 March 2014. For a transitional period until its dissolution the end of 2015 was US Airways , such as American Airlines earlier, the aerospace composite Oneworld associated.

On April 8, 2015, American Airlines and US Airways received their joint operating license after standardizing numerous operating procedures. All flights are now operated with the callsign American . In July 2015 it was announced that American Airlines would take the US Airways brand off the market on October 17, 2015 and that from then on all flights would be marketed as American Airlines.

Destinations

US Airways had hubs in Philadelphia , Charlotte and Phoenix, as well as smaller hubs in Las Vegas , Washington-Reagan and Pittsburgh . The route network mainly comprised the south and east of the USA as well as Europe and the Caribbean.

US Airways served three destinations in Germany and Switzerland on four routes:

• from Philadelphia to Frankfurt , Munich and Zurich
• from Charlotte to Frankfurt am Main

fleet

Current fleet

A US Airways Airbus A319-100

A US Airways Boeing 767-200ER

As of July 2015, the US Airways fleet consisted of 337 aircraft with an average age of 11.4 years:

Aircraft type	active	ordered	Remarks	First or Envoy / Economy seats
Airbus A319-100	093		Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	124 (12/112)
Airbus A320-200	055		Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	150 (12/138)
Airbus A321-200	121	09	121 launched as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines; 9 ordered; Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	183 (16/167)
Airbus A330-200	015th		Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	258 (20/238)
Airbus A330-300	009		Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	296 (28/268)
Airbus A350-900		22 Delivery open	Anticipated market presence as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines; Order unclear	- open -
Boeing 757-200	024		19 with winglets ; Marketed as American Airlines and operated by American Airlines	176 (12/164)
Embraer 190	020th		Market appearance as American Airlines and American Eagle ; operated by American Airlines and American Eagle	99 (11/88)
total	337	31

US Airways had the largest Airbus fleet in the world. Many aircraft were equipped with Internet access from Gogo Inflight Internet in order to be able to use the Internet during the flight.

North 262, Allegheny Airlines

Numerous Airbus A319 aircraft were painted in the colors of the airlines they had taken over: Pacific Southwest Airlines , Piedmont Airlines , America West and Allegheny Airlines, with the lettering being replaced by "US Airways".

Previously deployed aircraft

US Airways and its predecessor airlines operated aircraft of the types:

BAC 1-11, Allegheny Airlines

• BAC 111-200
• Boeing 727-100 and -200
• Boeing 737-200 , Boeing 737-300
• Boeing 767-200
• Convair CV-340
• Convair CV-580
• Douglas DC-3
• DC-9
• Fairchild F-27
• Fokker 100
• Fokker F28 -1000 and -4000
• McDonnell Douglas MD-80
• Mohawk 298 ( North 262 ) and North 262

US Airways Express

Piedmont Airlines De Havilland Canada DHC-8 in US Airways Express livery

Mesa Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 in US Airways Express livery

Under the name US Airways Express , several airlines operated regional and feeder flights from 1990 onwards (initially as USAir Express ) under the name of US Airways. Before that, the feeder airlines - such as Piedmont Airlines from 1987 or their predecessor Henson Airlines for USAir's predecessor, Allegheny Airlines, from 1967 - had only appeared under their own names for USAir. However, since 1969 there had been feeder flights operated by other airlines under the name Allegheny Commuter . Since the merger with American Airlines, the flights have been operated under the name American Eagle .

Aircraft type	active	annotation	operated by	Seats
Bombardier CRJ200	120	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Air Wisconsin (71), PSA Airlines (35) SkyWest Airlines (14)	50
Bombardier CRJ700	014th	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	PSA Airlines	70
Bombardier CRJ900	050	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Mesa Airlines (46) and Skywest Airlines (4)	86
De Havilland DHC- 8-100	033	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Piedmont Airlines	37
De Havilland DHC- 8-300	011	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Piedmont Airlines	50
Embraer 170	020th	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Republic Airline	72
Embraer 175	038	Marketed as American Eagle (airline) and operated by American Eagle	Republic Airlines	86
total	286

US Airways Shuttle

Donald Trump founded the Trump Shuttle airline in 1989 with a former Eastern Airlines aircraft and had to sell it to a banking consortium in 1992. The consortium renamed the airline Shuttle, Inc. and agreed a feeder agreement under the name USAir Shuttle through a 40% stake through the then USAir Group . In 1997 USAir took over the regional airline from the banks as a subsidiary, which from then on offered flights as US Airways Shuttle . As with Trump Shuttle, the airports in New York LaGuardia, Boston Logan and Washington Reagan National on the east coast of the USA were served. In 2000, the US Airways Group integrated the subsidiary into the US Airways fleet and finally gave up the name of the shuttle, although the successor company of US Airways, American Airlines, still offers short flights between the three airports to this day.

Incidents

US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River, New York

US Airways (and under its various previous names) has suffered 28 total aircraft losses. In 14 of them 415 people were killed. Examples:

• On June 7, 1971, an Allegheny Airlines Convair CV-580 ( aircraft registration number N5832 ) was flown into the ground 1.5 kilometers before it was approaching New Haven Airport (Connecticut) . Of the 31 inmates, 28 were killed. The reason was that the captain deliberately fell below the minimum descent altitude in bad weather despite repeated warnings from his first officer.

• On February 12, 1979, a Mohawk 298 (North 262) of Allegheny Airlines (registration number N29824 ) crashed immediately after taking off from Clarksburg Airport (West Virginia) in winter conditions due to snow on the wings and the tail unit. Of the 25 people on board, 2 were killed.

• On October 28, 1983, shortly after taking off from Harrisburg International Airport , a passenger opened the rear door of a Short 330-200 of the Allegheny Commuter (N26288) and fell from a height of more than 1,000 meters. The machine was able to return to the airport with the remaining 29 people on board (26 passengers and 3 crew members) (see also incident of the Allegheny Commuter at Middletown ) .

• On September 21, 1989 ( UTC ) a Boeing 737-400 of the USAir (registration number N416US ) shot over the end of the runway after the take-off at New York-LaGuardia airport and crashed into the East River. The machine broke into three pieces; two passengers were killed. The causes were a rudder that was trimmed contrary to the checklists and incomprehensible and misleading commands from the captain.

• On February 1, 1991, an air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport gave the pilot of a Boeing 737-300 of the USAir (N388US) clearance to land at night , with a Skywest Airlines Fairchild Swearingen Metro III (registration number N683AV ) due to the view from the tower , who was waiting in the middle of the runway couldn't see. The two planes collided. All 12 occupants of the metro and 22 people on board the Boeing were killed. In addition to the inadequate lighting of the metro, the cause of the accident was primarily human error on the part of the responsible air traffic controller (see USAir flight 1493 ) .

• On January 3, 1992 was Beechcraft 1900C-1 of the US Airways Express (registration N55000 ) landing at the airfield Saranac Lake Adirondack ( New York ) flown eight kilometers north-east into a mountain, although the approach using instrument landing system (ILS) was . Two of the four occupants were killed (see also Commutair flight 4821 ) .

• On March 12, 1992, a Jetstream 31 operated by CCAir on behalf of USAir Express (registration number N165PC ) was flown two kilometers from McGhee Tyson Airport near Knoxville , Tennessee with its landing gear retracted. Both pilots, who were the only people on board, perished in the accident (see also flight accident of a Jetstream 31 of USAir Express 1992 ) .

• On March 22, 1992, a USAir Fokker F28-4000 (registration number N485US ) crashed into Flushing Bay on its flight to Cleveland due to icy wings when taking off from New York-LaGuardia Airport . Of the 51 people on board, 27 died (see also USAir flight 405 ) .

• On July 2, 1994, a USAir Douglas DC-9-31 launched at Columbia Metropolitan Airport , South Carolina (registration number N954VJ ) crashed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport , North Carolina during an unsuccessful go-around attempt in heavy rain showers with wind shear. Of the 57 occupants, 37 were killed (see also USAir flight 1016 ) .

• On September 8, 1994, a USAir Boeing 737-300 (registration number N513AU ) crashed almost vertically from a height of 1100 m near Aliquippa (Pennsylvania) while approaching Pittsburgh International Airport . The cause was a defect in the rudder, which led to full deflection and loss of control. All 132 people on board were killed (see also USAir flight 427 ) .

• On 8 January 2003, the pilots lost lost control of their Beechcraft 1900 D of the US Airways Express (Mark N233YV ) located after takeoff from Charlotte Douglas International Airport , North Carolina had reared up steeply to 52 ° and after stalling in a maintenance hangar fell. The machine caught fire and all 21 people on board died. The main cause was incorrectly adjusted elevator controls two days earlier. The US Air Traffic Control Authority (FAA) also assumes that overweight passengers caused the accident and increased the weight formula for passengers by ten pounds per person in December 2003 (see US Airways Express flight 5481 ).

• On August 26, 2003, a US Airways Express (N240CJ) Beechcraft 1900D , operated by Colgan Air , crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport ( Massachusetts ) near Hyannis . Both pilots were killed on board the machine in the accident. The crash was caused by gross maintenance errors (see also Colgan Air flight 9446 ) .

• On 15 January 2009, had Airbus A320 US Airways (Mark N106US ) on US Airways Flight 1549 because of problems with both engines shortly after takeoff from New York-LaGuardia on the Hudson River ditched be. All 155 people on board were rescued alive by harbor ferries and other watercraft. The cause of the accident was a complete engine failure due to a bird strike .

Frequent flyer program

The frequent flyer program of US Airways was called Dividend Miles . In addition to basic membership, there were four higher membership levels: Silver Preferred , Gold Preferred , Platinum and Chairman's Preferred . Silver Preferred corresponded to the oneworld status Ruby , Gold Preferred and Platinum corresponded Sapphire and Chairman's Preferred corresponded Emerald .

From the Silver Preferred level , in addition to the advantages of Oneworld - Sapphire status, you had access to the US Airways Club airport lounges , 20 of which exist in the USA and one at Gatwick Airport near London , as well as access to most of the world's Oneworld lounges . Customers with Chairman status were automatically upgraded on North America routes as long as seats were available.

See also

• Former Airlines List (America)

Web links

Commons : US Airways  album with pictures, videos and audio files

• US Airways website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Factsheet US Airways (Star Alliance) 2012 , accessed on April 21, 2013.
2. ↑ US Airways | AAdvantage , April 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b} US Airways: Facts & Figures , staralliance.com, April 2013.
4. ↑ New world market leader - court approves merger of US airlines , manager-magazin.de, March 28, 2013.
5. ↑ ^{a b} dallasnews.com - American Airlines sets Oct. 17 as date for the end of US Airways brand (English) July 10, 2015.
6. ↑ FAQ: General questions , US Airways.com, accessed January 11, 2014.
7. ↑ Flight International: US Airways withdraws bid for Delta due to failure to secure creditors' backing
8. ↑ US Airways grows from Washington National. (No longer available online.) In: nur-flug-tours.de. April 16, 2012, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; Retrieved December 24, 2014 . 
9. ↑ American Airlines and US Airways To Create A Premier Global Carrier , US Airways.com, February 14, 2013.
10. ↑ American Airlines and US Airways may merge , handelsblatt.com, March 28, 2013.
11. ↑ American Airlines and US Airways: US airlines are allowed to merge to form the world's largest airline. In: Der Spiegel . November 12, 2013, accessed December 24, 2014 . 
12. ↑ American Airlines and US Airways found new American Airlines ( memento February 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), newamericanarriving.com
13. ↑ aero.de - American and US Airways receive uniform operating license April 10, 2015.
14. ↑ Ch-aviation : Fleet , accessed on January 17, 2015.
15. ^ Fleet age US Airways , Airfleets.net, accessed January 17, 2015.
16. ↑ folder & delivieres , Airbus.com (English), accessed on August 18, 2013.
17. ↑ Gogoair.com Participating Airlines ( Memento from December 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 4, 2014.
18. ↑ Ulrich Klee and Frank Bucher, among others: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007.
19. ↑ Ulrich Klee and Frank Bucher, among others: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK 2008 to 2013.
20. ↑ All American Airways accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network , accessed on November 26, 2017.
21. ↑ Accident statistics Allegheny Airlines , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 26, 2017.
22. ↑ Accident statistics Allegheny Commuter , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 26, 2017.
23. ↑ USAir accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network , accessed on November 26, 2017.
24. ↑ Accident statistics US Airways Express , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 26th
25. ↑ Accident statistics US Airways , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 26, 2017.
26. ↑ Accident Report CV-580 N5832 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 27 November 2017th
27. ↑ NTSB DCA71AZ009, accident of June 7, 1971 in New Haven, CT, Convair CV-580 N5832 ( Memento of August 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
28. ^ Accident report Nord 262 / Mohawk 298 N29824 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 27, 2017.
29. ↑ accident report B 737-400 N416US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 25 November 2017th
30. ↑ NTSB DCA89MA074, accident of September 20, 1989 in Flushing, NY, Boeing 737-400 ( Memento of June 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
31. ^ Accident report B-737-300 N388US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 27, 2017.
32. ↑ accident report Metro III N683AV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 27 November 2017th
33. ↑ NTSB DCA91MA018A, accident of February 1, 1991 in Los Angeles, CA, Boeing 737-300 ( Memento of June 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
34. ↑ accident report Beech 1900C N55000 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 27 November 2017th
35. ↑ NTSB DCA92MA016, accident of January 3, 1992 in Gabriels, NY, Beech 1900C ( Memento of March 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
36. ↑ Accident report Jetstream 31 N165PC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on April 16, 2020.
37. ↑ Accident report F28-4000 N485US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 25, 2017.
38. ↑ NTSB DCA92MA025, accident of March 22, 1992 in Flushing, NY, Fokker 28-4000 ( Memento of July 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
39. ↑ accident report DC-9-31 N954VJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 10 October 2017th
40. ↑ NTSB DCA94MA065, Accident of July 2, 1994 in Charlotte, NC, Douglas DC-9-31 ( Memento of July 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
41. ↑ accident report B 737-300 N513AU , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 26 November 2017th
42. ↑ NTSB DCA94MA076, accident of September 8, 1994 in Aliquippa, PA, Boeing B-737-300 ( Memento of July 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
43. ↑ Sabine Etzold: " Learn to eat! " - DIE ZEIT No. 15 from April 1, 2004.
44. ↑ accident report Beech 1900D N233YV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 26 November 2017th
45. ↑ NTSB DCA03MA022, accident of January 8, 2003 in Charlotte, NC, Beech 1900D ( Memento of September 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
46. ↑ accident report Beech 1900D N240CJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 29 April 2020th
47. ↑ Accident report A320 N106US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 25, 2017.
48. ↑ Airbus lands in the Hudson River - All passengers survive Disaster Airbus had problems before. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 7, 2016 ; accessed on June 18, 2020 .  , AZ report
49. ↑ Oneworld Tier Status for US Airways customers on the Oneworld website
50. ↑ US Airways Chairman's Preferred. In: usairways.com. Retrieved February 28, 2013 .