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In the United States, a legacy carrier is an airline that had established interstate routes before the beginning of the route liberalization permitted by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and was therefore directly affected by it. Legacy carriers are distinct from low-cost carriers, which, in the United States, are generally new airlines that entered the market after 1978 to compete in the newly deregulated industry. [1]
A typical characteristic of legacy carriers is that they usually provide higher quality services than a low-cost carrier; for example, a legacy carrier typically offers first class and business class seating, a frequent-flyer program, and exclusive airport lounges. [2] Many legacy carriers are also members of an airline alliance, through which they agree to provide reciprocal services to the passengers of other airlines in the same alliance.
The term 'legacy carrier' has generally not been used outside the United States. Many other countries have long-established flag carriers that are or were historically owned by or often given preferential treatment by their national governments. The national airlines occupy a position roughly equivalent to the American legacy carriers on quality of service and membership in international alliances compared to newer low-cost carriers. No American legacy carriers are official flag carriers in the United States.
Since the Deregulation Act, many legacy carriers have folded or merged with other carriers. Those that survived now benefit from the fact that low-cost carriers no longer hold large cost advantages over the major legacy carriers. [3] [4]
A trend among legacy carriers is to outsource short-haul and medium-haul flights to regional airlines. In 2011, 61% of all advertised flights by American, United, and Delta were operated by a regional airline, an increase from 40% in 2000. [5] Another trend is for legacy carriers to enter into "fare wars", where the legacy airline will lower their fares until they force new low cost carriers out of the market. [6]
The term does not apply to current-day major carriers that, while having existed before the Airline Deregulation Act, did not operate interstate and were solely intrastate regional airlines until after the passage of the Act: prominent examples include Southwest Airlines which opened its first non-Texas route in 1979, and Hawaiian Airlines did not fly outside of Hawaii until 1985.
As of 2020, the list of legacy carriers remaining is as follows:
Through the mid-20th century, the "Big Four" domestic airlines were American, Eastern, TWA, and United. Additionally, Pan Am focused exclusively on international service and was the unofficial U.S. flag carrier. Many smaller airlines operated concurrently, and some grew into national airlines in the years surrounding the 1979 deregulation.
By the end of 1991, there were seven remaining transcontinental legacy carriers: American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, TWA, United, and US Airways. These seven stood for a decade until TWA was incorporated into American in 2001. [12]
The remaining six subsequently stood for nearly another decade, but with mounting financial losses, four (Delta, Northwest, US Airways and United Airlines) were under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by 2005, setting off several years of mergers and acquisitions. [13]
US Airways was purchased by America West Airlines in a 2005 reverse merger, acquiring the assets and branding of the larger US Airways while putting the America West leadership team largely in charge of the merged airline.
United emerged from bankruptcy in 2006 and almost immediately began discussions to merge with Continental Airlines. Those talks fell through in 2008, leading United to turn to US Airways for combination talks, which also failed. Ultimately in 2010, Continental agreed to merge with United, with the combined airline taking the United name. [14]
Delta and Northwest emerged from bankruptcy in 2007. During the bankruptcy process, Delta was the target of a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways. Delta and Northwest agreed to merge in 2008, citing substantial efficiencies. [15]
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and/or freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which they both offer and operate the same flight. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body. Airlines may be scheduled or charter operators.
America West Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1981 until 2007, when it merged with US Airways. It was headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. Its main hub was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, with a secondary hub at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline acquired US Airways in 2005 and adopted US Airways as their brand name. America West served about 100 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico; flights to Europe were on codeshare partners. In September 2005, the airline had 140 aircraft, with a single maintenance base at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Regional jet and turboprop flights were operated on a code sharing basis by Mesa Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines as America West Express.
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems. Until its dissolution on December 4, 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word "Clipper" in its aircraft names and call signs, and the white uniform caps of its pilots.
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.
Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until 2012, when it merged with United Airlines. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Northwest Airlines Corp. was a major airline from 1926 to 2010 in the United States, merged with Delta Air Lines. The merger made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines–US Airways merger in 2013.
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until 2001 when it was acquired by American Airlines. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with Ford Trimotors. With American, United, and Eastern, it was one of the "Big Four" domestic airlines in the United States formed by the Spoils Conference of 1930.
Albany International Airport is six miles (9.7 km) northwest of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority. ALB covers 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land.
Albuquerque International Sunport, locally known as the Sunport, is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, particularly the Albuquerque metropolitan area and the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. It handles around 5.4 million passengers annually and over 400 flights daily. ABQ is located in Bernalillo County, between the Rio Grande and the Sandia Mountains, east of Old Town and Barelas, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of downtown, south of the University of New Mexico and directly to the west of Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base.
US Airways was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1937 until 2015, when it merged with American Airlines. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed Allegheny Airlines and operated under that name for a quarter-century. In October 1979, after the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Allegheny Airlines changed its name to USAir. A decade later it had acquired Piedmont Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), and was one of the U.S.'s seven transcontinental legacy carriers. In 1997, it rebranded as US Airways.
Mobile Regional Airport is a public/military airport 13 miles (21 km) west of Mobile, in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The airport is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority, a self-funded entity that receives no local tax dollars.
A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North America, most regional airlines are classified as "fee-for-departure" carriers, operating their revenue flights as codeshare services contracted by one or more major airline partners. A number of regional airlines, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, were classified as commuter airlines in the Official Airline Guide (OAG).
Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo is an American businessman. He managed Continental Airlines and Texas International Airlines between 1972 and 1990, through airline deregulation. Lorenzo also led the creation and management of the holding company for the group, Texas Air Corporation, through which New York Air was formed in 1980 and Eastern Air Lines was acquired in 1986, as well as Frontier Airlines and People Express Airlines.
AMR Corporation was an airline holding company based in Fort Worth, Texas, which was the parent company of American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, AmericanConnection and Executive Airlines. AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2011. The company emerged from bankruptcy on December 9, 2013, and at the same time announced that it would merge with US Airways Group to form a new company, American Airlines Group.
Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines in August 1972.
Charles Edward Acker is an American businessman who was CEO of Braniff Airways, Air Florida, and Pan American World Airways. He is a principal at Intrepid Equity Group.
United Airlines is the third largest airline in the world, with 92,795 employees and 948 aircraft. It was the brainchild of William Boeing and emerged from his consolidation of numerous carriers and equipment manufacturers from 1928 to 1930.
Delta Air Lines is a major American airline. The company's history began with the world's first aerial crop dusting operation called Huff Daland Dusters Inc., founded in 1925 in Macon, Georgia to combat the boll weevil infestation of cotton crops. C.E. Woolman, general manager and later Delta's first CEO, led a group of investors to acquire the company's assets. Delta Air Service was incorporated on December 3, 1928, and named after the Mississippi Delta region.
This is the history of United States commercial air transportation company American Airlines.