| |||||||
Founded | 1967 (as Allegheny Commuter ) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced operations | 1989 (as USAir Express) | ||||||
Ceased operations | October 17, 2015 (merged into American Eagle) | ||||||
Hubs | |||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Dividend Miles | ||||||
Alliance |
| ||||||
Parent company |
| ||||||
Headquarters |
| ||||||
Key people |
|
US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously operated as USAir Express. Mainline carriers often outsource to regional airlines to operate services in order to increase frequency, serve routes that would not sustain larger aircraft, or for other competitive reasons. US Airways Express operations were conducted from smaller markets in the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas primarily centered on US Airways' major hubs and focus cities.
Upon the completion of US Airways' merger process with American Airlines, US Airways Express was rebranded as American Eagle on October 17, 2015. [2]
US Airways Express traced its beginnings to 1967, when Henson Airlines began operating as Allegheny Commuter, a feeder carrier for Allegheny Airlines, predecessor to US Airways. The initial route was Baltimore-Hagerstown. [3] This is generally credited as the industry's first codeshare agreement and the first major airline to use another airline as its commuter partner. [4]
Throughout the 1970s, many other commuter airlines would join the Allegheny Commuter system providing feeder service from small communities for Allegheny Airlines. Allegheny Airlines was changed to USAir in 1979 however the feeder network still carried the name of Allegheny Commuter until 1989 when it was changed to USAir Express. In 1997 USAir changed its name again to US Airways at which time the feeder network became US Airways Express.
Two major carriers that merged into USAir in the late 1980s, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Piedmont Airlines (1948-1989) had their corporate names retained to protect their trademarks. Henson Airlines later took on the name Piedmont Airlines and another USAir Express carrier, Jetstream International took on the name of PSA Airlines. The aircraft and other characteristics of the rebranded regional carriers bear no relation to their namesakes however many of the routes of Piedmont Airlines are former routes of the original Piedmont Airlines.
The aircraft livery of US Airways Express aircraft was identical to US Airways' mainline colors except for the word Express, which is attached to the basic US Airways livery.
In April 2013, an internal memo distributed to American Eagle employees at American Airlines Group's subsidiaries: (OW) Executive Airlines and American Eagle; indicated the US Airways Express banner and marketing brand, were expected to be discontinued although the remaining and independently operating airline subsidiaries, were expected to continue but operated with American Eagle branded colors. [5]
Airline | IATA Service | ICAO Code | Callsign | Aircraft | In fleet | Passengers | Parent | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | Y | Total | |||||||
Air Wisconsin | ZW | AWI | Wisconsin | Bombardier CRJ200 | 67 | – | 50 | 50 | CJT Holdings |
Mesa Airlines | YV | ASH | Air Shuttle | Bombardier CRJ900 | 47 | 9 | 70 | 79 | Mesa Air Group |
6 | 76 | ||||||||
Piedmont Airlines | PT | PDT | Piedmont | Dash 8-100 | 30 | – | 37 | 37 | US Airways Group |
Dash 8-300 | 11 | – | 50 | 50 | |||||
PSA Airlines | OH | JIA | Blue Streak | Bombardier CRJ200 | 35 | – | 50 | 50 | |
Bombardier CRJ700 | 14 | 9 | 58 | 67 | |||||
Republic Airways | YX | RPA | Brickyard | Embraer 170 | 17 | 9 | 60 | 69 | Republic Airways Holdings |
Embraer 175 | 38 | 8 | 72 | 80 | |||||
SkyWest Airlines | OO | SKW | SkyWest | Bombardier CRJ200 | 12 | – | 50 | 50 | SkyWest, Inc. |
Bombardier CRJ900 | 4 | 6 | 70 | 76 | |||||
Trans States Airlines | AX | LOF | Waterski | Embraer ERJ 145 | 1 | – | 50 | 50 | Trans States Holdings |
Total | 276 |
The US Airways Express brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of twinges aircraft over the years including the following types:
The US Airways Express brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of twin turboprop aircraft over the years including the following types:
Continental Connection was the brand name under which several commuter airline carriers and their holding companies operated services marketed exclusively by Continental Airlines. As such, all Continental Connection banner carrier services were operated primarily with turboprop aircraft in contrast to Continental Express, whose flights were operated by Continental's regional jet partners, ExpressJet and Chautauqua Airlines. Continental Connection operations were merged into Continental Express in 2012.
CommuteAir is a regional airline of the United States founded in 1989. Today, CommuteAir operates more than 1,600 weekly flights, exclusively on behalf of United Express, serving over 75 U.S. destinations and 3 in Mexico. CommuteAir's fleet of Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft fly from its bases at Washington–Dulles and Houston–Intercontinental. The company was previously called CommutAir until July 26, 2022, when it legally changed its name to the present-day CommuteAir.
Continental Express was the brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of Continental's merger with United Airlines, two carriers were operating using the Continental Express brand name:
Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time.
Air Midwest, Inc., was a Federal Aviation Administration Part 121 certificated air carrier that operated under air carrier certificate number AMWA510A issued on May 15, 1965. It was headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States, and from 1991 was a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group. Besides initially flying as an independent air carrier, it later operated code sharing feeder flights on behalf of Eastern Air Lines as Eastern Air Midwest Express, on behalf of American Airlines as American Eagle, on behalf of Trans World Airlines (TWA) as Trans World Express and on behalf of US Airways as US Airways Express. It also operated feeder flights on behalf of Braniff (1983–1990) and Ozark Air Lines in addition to flying for Mesa Airlines. Air Midwest was shut down by its parent company, Mesa Airlines, in June 2008.
Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on American Eagle flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by American Airlines. Piedmont also provides ground handling and customer service for airports in the northeastern and western United States.
Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport.
Allegheny Airlines was a local service carrier that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979, with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself merged with American Airlines. Its headquarters were at Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.
Colgan Air was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1965 until 2012. It became a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. in 2012. The initial headquarters of Colgan Air was located in Manassas, Virginia until 2010, and then Memphis, Tennessee until closure in 2012.
Cape Cod Gateway Airport, also known as Boardman/Polando Field and formerly known as Barnstable Municipal Airport, is a public airport located on Cape Cod, one mile (1.6 km) north of the central business district of Hyannis, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. This airport is publicly owned by the Town of Barnstable. It is Cape Cod's major airport as well as an air hub for the Cape and the Islands. The airport is served by scheduled commercial flights as well as charters and general aviation. Barnstable Municipal Airport served as a hub for Nantucket-based commuter airline Island Airlines until its shutdown in 2015.
Air Midwest Flight 5481 was a Beechcraft 1900D on a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina. On the morning of January 8, 2003, the Beechcraft stalled while departing Charlotte Douglas International Airport and crashed into an aircraft hangar, killing all 21 passengers and crew aboard and injuring one person on the ground.
The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring larger regional jets, then-owner Raytheon ended production in October 2002.
Williamsport Regional Airport serves Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the surrounding area with a population of roughly 200,000. The airport processes approximately 40,000 passengers annually and has served north central Pennsylvania since 1929.
Ransome Airlines was a regional airline in the United States, headquartered at Northeast Philadelphia Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1967, it operated feeder flights on behalf of different mainline carriers via specific airline brands for most of its existence: as Allegheny Commuter (1970–1982), Delta Connection (1984–1987), Pan Am Express (1987–1991) and finally Trans World Express (1991–1995).
Piedmont Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled carrier that operated from 1948 until it merged with USAir in 1989. Its headquarters were at One Piedmont Plaza in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a building that is now part of Wake Forest University.
StatesWest Airlines was a commuter airline headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona that operated to destinations in the Southwestern United States.
Britt Airways was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1964 until it merged with ExpressJet in 1996. It was established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Marilyn Britt in 1975 later on Britt Airways. It was based in Terre Haute, Indiana until 1996. It began as a commuter airline. It primarily operated turboprop aircraft but also flew British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twinjets as an independent air carrier at one point as well. The airline evolved into a regional air carrier operating code share flights primarily for Continental Airlines.
Crown Airways was a regional airline operating for USAir Express with its headquarters on the grounds of DuBois Regional Airport in Washington Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, near Falls Creek. Allegheny Commuter was the brand name for the regional affiliate of Allegheny Airlines, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers operate short and medium haul routes. The airline is often credited as the first code-share agreement between a major airline and smaller commuters.
Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. was a regional airline in the United States and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to the shut down of operations, it operated scheduled passenger services to 52 airports in the United States and Canada via code sharing agreements for Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Chautauqua previously flew feeder services for other airlines via code sharing agreements including Allegheny Airlines, USAir, Trans World Airlines, Continental Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and America West Airlines. Its last day in operation was December 31, 2014, at which time all flying was absorbed by the Shuttle America certificate.
American Eagle is a brand name for the regional branch of American Airlines, under which six individual regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. Three of these airlines, Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines, are wholly owned subsidiaries of the American Airlines Group. American Eagle's largest hub is Charlotte Douglas International's Concourse E, which operates over 340 flights per day, making it the largest regional jet operation in the world.