USAir Group, Inc.

Product Details

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Historical Context

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US Airways traces its history to All American Aviation Inc, a company founded in 1939 by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont 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 to passenger service; it changed its name again to Allegheny Airlines 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" due to customer dissatisfaction.

Allegheny's agreement with Henson Airlines, the forerunner to today's US Airways Express carrier Piedmont Airlines, to operate "Allegheny Commuter" flights was the industry's first code-share agreement, a type of service now offered throughout the industry.

Allegheny changed its name to USAir in 1979 following the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act the previous year, which enabled the airline to expand its route network into the southeastern United States.

In early 1997, USAir changed its name to US Airways and introduced a new corporate identity. A stylized version of the flag of the United States 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.

On February 14, 2013, US Airways Group and AMR Corporation (American Airlines) 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 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.

On April 8, 2015, American Airlines flights operated by US Airways retired the Cactus callsign used by US Airways since their merger with America West in 2005. The final flight to use it was Flight 774 from London 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 (for the year the airline was founded), using an Airbus A321 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, at 10:05 AM, October 16, 2015 continuing to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, then to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and then to San Francisco International Airport. The aircraft made its final leg on the evening of October 16, as a red-eye flight from San Francisco International Airport back to Philadelphia International Airport. It landed ahead of schedule at 5:52AM EDT, and at that point, the US Airways brand and all operations under its name were officially terminated.

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