Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

US Airways' last flight will be a nostalgia trip

It's official: The last US Airways flight with stops at key cities in the airline's history will start in Philadelphia on Friday, Oct. 16, and end there the next day.

A USAirways Airbus 319 aircraft in Phoenix, one of the stops on the final US Airways flight. GENE J. PUSKAR / Associated Press
A USAirways Airbus 319 aircraft in Phoenix, one of the stops on the final US Airways flight. GENE J. PUSKAR / Associated PressRead more

It's official: The last US Airways flight with stops at key cities in the airline's history will start in Philadelphia on Friday, Oct. 16, and end there the next day.

Flight 1939, named for the year 1939, when US Airways began as All American Aviation with airmail service in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio River valley, is being planned as a festive farewell, with gatherings of employees at each of four airports on the cross-country journey.

Among the passengers on the final trip will be Edwin Colodny, 89, US Airways' chief executive officer from 1975 to 1991. He was staff lawyer and later the CEO during four mergers, and will travel from his summer home in Burlington, Vt., to San Francisco to be on the last leg of the final US Airways flight.

"It's nostalgia," Colodny said in an interview. "Having been involved with the creation of the USAir name back in the 1970s, and being so involved with the company for 40 years, I thought it would be neat to fly the last flight under that name."

Flight 1939, an Airbus A321, is scheduled to depart Philadelphia for Charlotte, N.C., at 10:05 a.m. Oct. 16, then leave Charlotte at 2:35 p.m. to fly to Phoenix. The flight will depart Phoenix at 5:10 p.m. for San Francisco. The last leg of the journey will be a red-eye, leaving San Francisco at 9:55 p.m. and arriving 2,515 miles later in Philadelphia at 6:18 a.m. the next day.

With the final flight, the US Airways brand will fade into history, joining other defunct airline names that include TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, Braniff, Continental, and Northwest.

When US Airways and American announced plans to merge in February 2013, creating the world's largest airline, they retained the American name. The combined airline was granted a single operating certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration in April. Frequent-flier programs were merged in March. The switch to a single computer reservations system will happen Oct. 17.

US Airways traces its roots to All American Aviation, which was renamed All American Airways in 1949 and switched from mail delivery to passenger service. In 1953, it became Allegheny Airlines, a small regional carrier, with headquarters at then-Washington National Airport and a major hub in Pittsburgh.

Colodny, who joined Allegheny in 1957 as staff attorney, was involved in the 1968 merger with Lake Central Airlines in Indianapolis and the 1972 acquisition of Mohawk Airlines in Utica, N.Y. Those acquisitions allowed Allegheny to expand into the Midwest, New York, and New England.

In 1979, after passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Allegheny changed its name to USAir to reflect its growing route network.

With the 1987 acquisitions of Piedmont Airlines in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in San Diego, USAir became a trans-continental carrier.

"Charlotte was a major hub for Piedmont, and after that acquisition we expanded the Charlotte hub," Colodny recalled. "PSA was all West Coast; there was no overlap with the USAir system. PSA had a north-south system anchored in San Diego and served many West Coast cities, particularly Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area."

USAir changed its name to US Airways in 1997.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a sharp decline in air travel, US Airways filed the first of two Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in 2002.

In 2004, the airline filed for bankruptcy a second time and reduced flights at its Pittsburgh hub.

"Obviously, it became very difficult to support two hubs in Pennsylvania," Colodny said. Philadelphia was developed as an international gateway, which "led to a lot of flights being fed into the Philadelphia market to support that international service," he said. "That had a negative effect on the Pittsburgh operation and led to the ultimate elimination of that major hub."

In 2005, US Airways merged with America West Airlines in Tempe, Ariz. The America West leadership team took charge of the combined airline and kept the US Airways name. Eight years later, the same management team, led by CEO Doug Parker, engineered the merger with the bankrupt American Airlines.

"It's a milestone, seeing a small company called Allegheny finally being part of the world's largest airline," Colodny said. "It's amazing when you think about it. It has survived, even though it is now part of a bigger organization."

Keeping the better-known American name was "the right decision," he said. "It's just the name. All the flying that was done under US Airways basically will continue under the American name."

Although Flight 1939 will be the final US Airways flight, it will be late 2016 before all the US Airways planes are repainted with the American logo.

"We're really focused on the new American and building that, but we also want to give a nod to everything that went into building the new American," airline spokeswoman Martha Thomas said. "We're going to make it a special experience for everyone involved, from the customers on the flight to the employees at each of the stations."

US Airways History

1939: Starts as All American Aviation with airmail service in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio Valley.

1949: Begins passenger service as All American Airways.

1953: Changes name to Allegheny Airlines.

1968: Merges with Lake Central Airlines and expands to the Midwest.

1972: Acquires Mohawk Airlines with service throughout New York and New England.

1979: Changes name to USAir to reflect expanding network.

1987: Acquires Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Piedmont Airlines as subsidiaries.

1992: Starts a marketing affiliation with Trump Shuttle, which becomes USAir Shuttle.

1997: Changes name from USAir to US Airways.

2002: Files the first of two Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions.

2005: Merges with America West, keeping US Airways name.

2013: Combines with bankrupt American Airlines, adopting the American name.

2015: On Oct. 16, US Airways will fly its final flight.

215-854-2831

@LoydLinda