The US Airways logo

US Airways is an airline based in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest airlines in the United States, with a fleet of 282 aircraft serving 89 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

US Airways operates hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia, and is opening a new inter-American connecting hub in Fort Lauderdale in February 2005. [1] Its other focus airports are Pittsburgh, New York LaGuardia, Washington National, and Boston. The airline became a member of the Star Alliance on May 4, 2004, becoming the 16th airline to do so. [2]

Commuter service is offered by US Airways Express, a service operated by several wholly-owned airline companies, and US Airways Shuttle, which provides hourly service between northeastern hubs in competition with Delta Air Lines' Delta Shuttle.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, US Airways was one of the first major U.S. carriers to declare bankruptcy, forcing the closure of its Baltimore hub and the furloughing of thousands of employees. In 2004, the company reached a deadlock in negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association , leading some observers to speculate that it may be liquidated, or abandon its hub and spoke routing to reform as a low-cost airline. [3]On September 12th, 2004, US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time since 9/11. Some airline experts have predicted this may be the demise of US Airways.

As of April 2005, they are in advanced merger talks with Tempe, Arizona-based America West. The airline has approached others about merging, but discussions with America West have progressed the furthest. [4]

History

US Airways traces its history to All American Aviation , a company founded in 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 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 US.

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 US. In the early 1980s, its routes in the Northeast were fed by Ransome Airlines .

USAir expanded dramatically in 1987, when it purchased San Diego-based Pacific Southwest Airlines 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. The Piedmont merger, when it was completed in 1989, 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 accepting a large investment from British Airways that started one of the first transatlantic airline alliances. It also invested heavily in a terminal at its hub at Pittsburgh International Airport.

In 1996, USAir closed its relationship with BA and announced its rebranding as US Airways. It expanded its flights to Europe through the end of the decade, and bought out Trump Shuttle in 1998. In the same year it introduced a single-class service known as Metrojet , which attempted to compete with low-cost carriers expanding into the East.

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 by United Airlines, then the world's largest, for $4.3 billion. The complex deal drew immediate scorn from labor unions, consumer advocates, and antitrust regulators, however. Relations soured, and with both airlines losing money and the deal all but certain to be blocked by the government, United withdrew its purchase offer on July 27, 2001.

As the largest carrier at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, US Airways was disproportionately impacted by that airport's extended closure following the September 11 attacks, and entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 11, 2002. It received a government loan through the Air Transportation Stabilization Board and exited bankruptcy quickly. Despite eliminating its Pittsburgh hub to capitalize on direct flights between major Eastern Seaboard airports such as Logan, LaGuardia, and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, high fuel costs and deadlocked negotiations with labor returned US Airways to bankruptcy on September 12, 2004.

Fleet

US Airways flies a fleet of twinjets, divided between newer Airbus aircraft and older Boeing aircraft. Its fleet includes:

• 9 Airbus A330
• 10 Boeing 767-200ER
• 31 Boeing 757-200
• 28 Airbus A321
• 45 Boeing 737-400
• 69 Boeing 737-300
• 24 Airbus A320
• 66 Airbus A319

Most US Airways aircraft are equipped with "JetConnect," a wireless service provided by Verizon that allows travelers to access e-mail and instant messaging (but not most web sites) in flight.

Since an initial trial run in 2003, US Airways has discontinued complimentary meal service on domestic flights, and now offers sandwiches and salads for purchase on board flights of over 700 miles (1126 km).

In the past, the airline has used Boeing 737-200, Fokker 100, DC-9, Boeing 727 and MD-80 aircraft.

External Links

• The official site for US Airways
• Guide to earning miles on US Airways
• Flyertalk