US Airways
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Template:Infobox Airline Image:Us.737.ohare.jpeg US Airways is an airline based in Tempe, Arizona, owned by US Airways Group, Inc.. Currently the seventh largest airline in the United States, US Airways has a fleet of 258 aircraft and serves 176 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe. The airline was acquired by America West Holdings Corporation in late 2005, operations are expected to be combined with America West Airlines in 2007. The airline became the 15th member of the Star Alliance on May 4, 2004.
US Airways operates hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia. It has a secondary hub at Pittsburgh and focus airports New York LaGuardia, Washington Reagan, Boston, and Fort Lauderdale. In addition to these cities, merger partner America West Airlines operates hubs at Phoenix and Las Vegas.
The airline operates the US Airways Shuttle, a US Airways brand which provides hourly service between key Northeastern markets in competition with Delta Air Lines' Delta Shuttle. Regional airline service is branded as US Airways Express, operated by contract and subsidiary airline companies, along with US Airways itself as MidAtlantic Airways.
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History
Early years
US Airways traces its history to All American Aviation, a company founded by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont (1911-1943) and Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. (1905-1996). Hubbed in Pittsburgh, the airline served the Ohio River valley in 1939. In 1949, the company was renamed All American Airways as it switched from airmail to passenger service. The company was again renamed, to Allegheny Airlines, in 1952.
Allegheny expanded progressively, introducing the Douglas DC-9 in 1966 and absorbing Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972 to become one of the largest carriers in the northeastern United States.
Allegheny's agreement with Henson Airlines, the forerunner to today's US Airways Express carrier Piedmont Airlines, to provide service under the Allegheny Commuter banner, is generally regarded as the industry's first code-share agreement, a type of service now routinely offered throughout the industry.
The birth of USAir
Allegheny changed its name to USAir in 1979 following the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act the previous year, which allowed the airline to expand its route network to the southern United States. In the early 1980s, its routes in the Northeast were fed by Ransome Airlines, among others. It was at this time with a new corporate name that the company moved from Pittsburgh to suburban Washington, D.C., though it would keep Pittsburgh as its main hub for another two decades.
USAir was the launch customer for the Boeing 737-300, as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its rapidly-growing Florida markets. USAir was the world's largest operator of DC-9 aircraft and approached McDonnell Douglas for a new airplane. However, in the late 1970's, the company was not interested in developing a new variant of the DC-9-50. After negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down, Boeing stepped forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir chose this aircraft and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, receiving the first plane on November 28, 1984.
1980s: Mergers and expansion
USAir expanded dramatically in 1987, when it purchased San Diego-based Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Piedmont Airlines. The mergers gave the airline hubs in Baltimore and Charlotte, as well as routes to the West Coast, and Piedmont's transatlantic service to London Gatwick Airport. When the Piedmont acquisition was completed in 1989, it became the largest merger in airline history.
In the early 1990s, USAir expanded its service to Europe with new flights to London, Paris, and Frankfurt from its three main hubs. The company formed new partnerships, marketing the Trump Shuttle as the "USAir Shuttle" and accepted a large investment from British Airways that started one of the first transatlantic airline alliances. It also invested heavily in a new, state-of-the-art terminal at its hub at Pittsburgh.
1990s: Rebranding, fleet modernization, and a failed sell-out
In 1996, USAir closed its relationship with British Airways and announced its re-branding as US Airways. It expanded its flights to Europe through the end of the decade, and bought out the remains of Trump Shuttle in 1998. That same year it introduced a single-class service known as MetroJet, which attempted to compete with low-cost carriers expanding into the East, in particular Southwest Airlines.
On November 6, 1996, just following the re-branding to US Airways, US Airways placed an order for up to 400 Airbus A320-series narrowbody aircraft, with 120 firm orders at the time of the order signing. At the time, it was regarded as the largest single aircraft order in history. In 1998, the airline followed with an order for up to 30 Airbus A330-series or A340-series widebody aircraft, with an initial firm order for 7 A330-300 aircraft. These orders accomplished two goals: 1) they allowed US Airways to replace older aircraft with newer, more efficient aircraft; and 2) helped with the re-branding and repositioning of US Airways as the "Global Carrier of Choice".
Although the airline had returned to profitability in the mid-1990s, its route network's concentration in the U.S. Northeast and high operating costs prompted calls to merge with another airline. On May 24, 2000 US Airways announced plans to be acquired for $4.3 billion by UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, the world's largest commercial carrier at the time. The complex deal drew immediate objections from labor unions, consumer advocates, and antitrust regulators. Negotiations stalled; with both airlines losing money and the deal all but certain to be blocked by the federal government, UAL withdrew its purchase offer on July 27, 2001, paying US Airways a $50 million penalty for withdrawing from the deal.
2001-2004: 9/11, financial woes, contraction
As the largest carrier at Washington-Reagan, US Airways was disproportionately impacted by that airport's extended closure following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The resulting financial disaster precipitated the closure of the airline's MetroJet subsidiary, the de-hubbing of Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and the furloughing of thousands of employees. The airline entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 11, 2002. The company received a government-guaranteed loan through the Air Transportation Stabilization Board and was able to exit bankruptcy after a relatively short period. On October 19, 2005, the loan was repaid when the debt was refinanced with other lenders.
In an attempt to stem further financial losses, in early 2004 US Airways officially de-hubbed Pittsburgh International Airport, and began a process of de-emphasizing its hub-and-spoke system to capitalize on direct flights between major eastern airports such as Washington-Reagan, New York-LaGuardia, and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood. This emphasis on more direct flights has been undertaken by many airlines of late, as an attempt to capitalize on the highest-profit routes, and is modeled after Southwest Airlines' system, one which most U.S. airlines used until the mid-1980s.
However, high fuel costs and deadlocked negotiations with organized labor (chiefly the Air Line Pilots Association, who were traditionally the first group to come to a concessionary agreement) forced US Airways into a second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings, on September 12, 2004. Widespread employee discontent and irregularly high sick calls were blamed by the airline for a staff shortage around the 2004 Christmas holiday, a public relations disaster which led to speculation that the airline could be liquidated; the DOT, however, found that the problems were caused mainly due to poor planning by management.
2005: Acquisition by America West
Image:Hpuslivery.jpg On May 19, 2005, US Airways Group announced that it would merge with Arizona-based America West Holdings Corporation (parent company of America West Airlines), whose strength in the West would complement US Airways' routes in the Northeast, Europe, and the Caribbean. The new entity retains the US Airways name due to its non-regional emphasis, as well as its greater worldwide brand recognition, its Dividend Miles frequent flyer program, and its participation in the Star Alliance.
The "new" US Airways is headquartered at the former America West corporate offices in Tempe, Arizona, and America West executives and board members are largely in control of the merged company. The merger between the two airlines, including consolidating all aircraft under the US Airways certificate, is scheduled to be completed in 2007, approximately 18-24 months following the merger of the holding companies in 2005. For the initial merger announcement, click here. Also, see: Merger with US Airways Group for additional information.
On September 13, 2005, America West's shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement. 95.5 percent of shareholders approved the transaction. See: results of shareholder voting.
On September 16, 2005, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approved US Airways' Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, clearing the way for the merger to be closed on September 27, 2005, in conjunction with US Airways Group's emergence from bankruptcy. For the merger approval announcement, click here.
A new livery has been unveiled that incorporates colors from the 4 airlines that became US Airways: Allegheny (red and blue); America West (white and waving gray lines); Piedmont (also red and blue); and PSA (red). These four airlines will have their logos in miniature near the main cabin door. There will also be 4-8 "retrojets" painted in the final livery colors of each of those predecessor airlines, but with US Airways titles.
On September 27, 2005, the merger of the two holding companies was completed. The combined airline has branded itself as the "World's Largest Low-Fare Airline". In January of 2006, the airline began consolidating its operations under the US Airways brand.
Beginning January, 2006, all America West flights are branded as US Airways.
On February 9, 2006, US Airways became the first American "legacy" carrier to add the Embraer 190 to its mainline fleet.
Fleet
Image:US Airways Flight to USA.JPG US Airways flies a fleet of twinjets, divided between mostly newer Airbus aircraft and generally older Boeing aircraft. As of 12 February 2006, its fleet includes:
| Type | Number | Seats | Seats First-Envoy/Coach | Orders/Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A350-800 | 0 | ? | ? | 20 |
| Airbus A330-300 | 9 | 266 | 42/224 | Yes |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 10 | 203 | 24/179 | No |
| Boeing 757-200 | 31 | 193 | 8/185 | No |
| Airbus A321-200 | 28 | 169 | 26/143 | Yes |
| Boeing 737-400 | 40 | 144 | 12/132 | No |
| Airbus A320-200 | 20 | 142 | 16/126 | Yes |
| Boeing 737-300 | 31 | 126 | 12/114 | No |
| Airbus A319 | 54 | 120 | 12/108 | Yes |
| Embraer 190 | 0 | 99 | 11/88 | 25+ |
US Airways also operates a fleet of approximately 28 Embraer 170 aircraft as US Airways Express, through its MidAtlantic Airways division, staffed primarily with previously furloughed mainline employees. US Airways is in the process of selling these aircraft to Republic Airways Holdings, where they will continue to operate as US Airways Express. On February 9, 2006, the airline announced a firm order for 25 Embraer 190 aircraft, a cousin of the 170. However, unlike the smaller E-Jet, the 190 will have an 11-seat First Class cabin and be operated by mainline employees.
In March 2006, US Airways fleet age is 10.4 years old.
US Airways has stated that they intend to have an all-Airbus international widebody fleet by 2010. They have no current orders or options for any Boeing aircraft. With deliveries scheduled between 2011 and 2013, they will be a launch customer for the new Airbus A350, with Airbus also providing a $250 million loan to help fund the exit from bankruptcy and merger.
The combined airline will continue to take delivery of Airbus aircraft ordered by both US Airways and America West before their merger announcement. In 2009, the airline will take delivery of 11 A320-family aircraft that were originally ordered by America West. 19 A320-family and 10 A330-200 aircraft originally ordered by US Airways will be delivered in 2009 and 2010. Along with the A350s, the A330-200s will complete US Airways' transition to an all-Airbus international fleet.
Most US Airways aircraft are equipped with Verizon Airfone at every row of seats.
Since an initial trial run in 2003, US Airways has discontinued complimentary meal service on domestic flights, and now offers bistro sandwiches and salads for purchase on board most flights of over 700 miles (1126 km).
Since the year 2000, US Airways has retired several aircraft types in an attempt to simplify its fleet and thus lower its costs. These retirements were made possible thanks to deliveries of new Airbus A320-series narrowbodies. Aircraft types retired as a result of the Airbus deliveries were the Boeing 727-200, DC-9-30, Boeing 737-200, MD-80, and Fokker F100. Other aircraft types previously flown by USAir or US Airways were the Fokker F28-4000, Fokker F28-1000, BAC 1-11, and Boeing 727-100.
Incident summary
US Airways Club
The airline's airport lounge is called the US Airways Club and includes 21 lounges in 16 major airports around the world. Club membership has several levels, including:
- Base - Includes access only to the US Airways Clubs.
- Red Carpet - Includes US Airways Clubs and adds access to United Airlines Red Carpet Clubs when traveling on a United Airlines ticket.
- Star Alliance - Includes US Airways Clubs, United Airlines Red Carpet Clubs, and all Star Alliance partner airline clubs.
Destinations
US Airways' routes are heavily concentrated in the eastern United States and Caribbean, with a number of routes to Europe and several destinations on the west coast. Their west coast presence has increased dramatically with the merger with America West Airlines. US Airways Express carriers operate a number of routes, primarily into US Airways' hubs and focus cities, but with a few exceptions, in particular where smaller US Airways Express carriers operate service under the EAS program, and also some point-to-point routes in the northeast and Carolinas. Template:Main
See also
External links
- US Airways
- America West Airlines
- US Airways Fleet Age
- US Airways Fleet Detail (See also America West Fleet Detail)
- The official site for information on the merger of US Airways and America West
- Guide to earning miles on US Airways
- A Rich Heritage - US Airways “heritage” aircraft
- New US Airways Livery
| Members of the Star Alliance | Image:Star alliance rechts.jpg |
|---|---|
| Air Canada • Air New Zealand • ANA • Asiana Airlines • Austrian Airlines • bmi • LOT Polish Airlines Lufthansa • SAS Scandinavian Airlines • Singapore Airlines • South African Airways • Spanair • Swiss TAP Portugal • Thai Airways • United Airlines • US Airways • Varig Regional Members: Adria Airways • Blue1 • Croatia Airlines Former members: Ansett Australia • Mexicana |
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