If you are a fan of US Airways, today is a bittersweet day for you, as the airline is the latest one which now technically no longer exists.
US Airways flight 1939 — named for the year in which the airline was founded — from San Francisco to Philadelphia was the last flight officially operating as a US Airways flight, as it landed at Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 5:54 in the morning Eastern Daylight Time. The aircraft was an Airbus A321.
The official Internet web site of US Airways no longer exists as of 12:01 in the morning Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, October 17, 2015. Attempting to access it takes you to the official Internet web site of American Airlines, which gives tips on what to expect and how to ensure that your travels are as smooth as possible — from check-in at your origination to arrival at your destination — from today onwards. For example, all US Airways flights are now American Airlines flights.
The operating certificates of US Airways and American Airlines were combined into one single operating certificate as approved by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States effective as of Wednesday, April 8, 2015.
Launched as All American Aviation in Pittsburgh in 1939 by Richard C. du Pont, Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. and Steven Gardner — who was the chief executive officer — the name of the airline was changed in 1949 to All American Airways; and then again to Allegheny Airlines in 1953, which then became US Air in 1979 before changing its name again to US Airways in 1997.
Doug Parker — who wanted to be the chief executive officer of the largest commercial airline in the world when US Airways attempted a hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines back in November of 2006 but was thwarted by the Keep Delta My Delta campaign — finally realized his dream officially as of today. There was also discussion of a merger between US Airways and United Airlines; but those talks were abandoned in April of 2010 when it first seemed that United Airlines would merge with Continental Airlines instead.
There was talk of US Airways and American Airlines merging as far back as April of 2008. American Airlines and US Airways officially legally merged on Monday, December 9, 2013 — which dethroned United Airlines as the largest commercial airline in the world after its merger with Continental Airlines became official on Friday, August 27, 2010.
The merging of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines was approved by the Department of Justice of the United States on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 — becoming the largest commercial airline in the world until the aforementioned merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines.
All indications are that the merger between US Airways and American Airlines has gone smoothly — unlike the integration of America West Airlines into US Airways, which became official on Thursday, May 19, 2005.
Alas, US Airways is now another airline of the past — along with such brands as Trans World Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Eastern Airlines, Continental Airlines, Aloha Airlines, Braniff Airlines, America West Airlines, and Pan American World Airways.
Photograph ©2013 by Brian Cohen.
