The Rise and Fall and Leveling of US Airways
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- Throughout the dynamic era from the 1960s to the late 1990s, the aviation industry witnessed the rise of numerous innovative and technologically advanced aircraft and airlines (like US Airways), often heralded by major airlines, especially those that had flourished in the mid-20th century. One such prominent carrier was US Airways, which, like Northwest Airlines, boasted a rich history and significant achievements. Based in Arizona, US Airways had established itself as a critical player in the airline industry, operating extensive domestic and international routes. US Airways' journey in the 20th century was marked by significant success and resilience. Yet, the confluence of challenges in the early 2000s proved insurmountable, hastening the demise of this aviation legend.
Hey Everyone! I'm sorry I haven't been active lately. Life's been busy. However, I'm glad I was able to get this video out before school starts up again. This is probably the most grinding I've done on a video, so I hope you all enjoy it! I'm going to be taking a bit of a hiatus to work on some more of them so that I don't upload and dip, hopefully to release them sometime at the end of this year (or early next year) but I'll still upload some shorts here and there.
Chapters: Intro: 0:00-0:45
Takeoff: 0:46-2:11
Ascent: 2:12-6:04
Descent: 6:05-9:24
The-Not-So-Drastic Impact: 9:25-13:13
Enjoyed this video? Go check out my others!
/ @sideshowbob24
Wanna chat? Here's my discord: Sideshowbob24#5370
Music: Lakey Inspired - In My Clouds/Monroe
Gymnopedie No. 1
Chilling (outro) - Chinpo Empty
Information used:
www.aerotime.a...
en.wikipedia.o...
All information used in this video is for fair and educational use under section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act.
NOTE* All videos and photos used in this video are NOT MINE and belong to their respective owners.
A few mistakes in this video:
-The Convair 580 series of aircraft didn't commence operation until the late 1950s
-The info of US wanting to take over American is true but I forgot to mention the staff of US help take control of American to help them get back on their feet.
Another thing you did not mention was that, to a large extent, the US Airways management team was the one that survived the merger with American, which was still the second largest airline in the world, and much larger than US Airways, at the time of the merger. Likewise, America West was much smaller than US Airways at the time of that merger, and really, US Airways was on the verge of liquidation - effectively, America West acquired them at a rock-bottom price. Labor relations remained toxic, but its remarkable how competent America West’s management team was, in order to be able to take one of the weakest of the US full service airlines, and leverage it into effectively acquiring AA in 2010. US Airways had routes to Europe dating back to Piedmont and the 767-200 (the merger with Piedmont was not well-managed, whereas Piedmont was, and Continental’s famed CEO Gordon Bethune had been a part of Piedmont’s management team), and the merger with PSA failed completely, which is why at the time of the merger with America West, US Airways was primarily an East Coast airline. They had the highest operating costs in the industry, but also the highest yields on their route network, due to the dense concentration of routes connecting major centers of business and well-off suburbs in the East Coast. Closing the Las Vegas hub made sense, given that Southwest and other budget airlines had a large and growing presence there, and the intense competition for service to that airport made it less advantageous than the Phoenix hub. Which takes us to the other remarkable aspect of the America West story, which is the fact that their two main hubs, PHX and LAS, were also Southwest hubs, and naturally this put them at a bit of a disadvantage both in terms of pricing and customer service. What is truly remarkable is that America West was the only startup airline founded in the years immediately following deregulation to survive substantially into the 21st century: it was a contemporary of Air New York, PeoplExpress and several other failed startups and failed expansions which failed entirely, sadly. At any rate, keep up the good work. Thank you for an interesting video! God bless. ❤
@@theleastofpilgrims3379great and accurate comment! Thank you. Us air management was a force to be reckoned with !
US Airways became my airline of choice in the mid-1990's, when I flew them frequently between Seattle and the east coast. After relocating to Florida, I flew US Airways almost weekly from 2002 through 2007 all across the US and occasionally to Europe. Aside from the usual weather related delays from time to time, my experiences were always pleasant. I enjoyed great service from ground and flight crew and frequent 1st Class upgrades. I loved the dark blue livery and later the final white. I still miss US Airways, but have many fond memories.
US Airways was the first Airline I ever flew on. Always loved it.
As a retired USAir (US) employee, starting with the Allegheny (AL) name in the '70s, I hesitated to watch this because I knew there would be mistakes. 1. All American Airways was founded in 1939, not 1937. 2. The Convair 580 wasn't purchased in the 1940s because it wasn't developed until the 1960s. We started flying it in 1965, ending the aircraft type in 1978. 3. America West (HP) was the surviving management with the HP/US merger. The US name was kept because it was better known. 4. With the AA/US merger, it was US management that took over. The American Airlines name was kept over USAirways because it was an iconic name in the industry. The downgrade of PIT hub is too long a story to tell but it had a lot to do with Allegheny County politics & US. An agreement to keep the PIT hub failed because of not being able to come together on new airport leases. At our hub peak, we had over 650 daily departures at PIT. It was a very rewarding career but glad I've been retired for years, enjoying my leisure time. I couldn't imagine working in the industry today.
Thank you for bringing these inaccuracies to light. I will leave a pinned comment so that people don't get the wrong information. And yes, the industry today is a lot more of a complex disaster than it was in the past and Im glad you're enjoying yourself these days. Have a good one :)
@@Sideshowbob24 The company was USAir out of the East Coast. America West Airlines, had 747 service to Japan & Hawaii, from Phoenix. America West management took over both US Airways and eventually American Airlines as well. PSA, Pacific Southwest Airlines, was the co-flag carrier of California, along with Air Cal (Air California).
As a person that's flown both US Air and US Airways out of Toronto I kinda wish they had of kept the US Airways name instead of the American name with that new Greyhound bus skeem paint job
@@ronparrish6666 I liked America West.
Echoing this comment. If anything, "American" is really America West or USAir. (They just kept the 'American' name.)
Flew with us airways a bunch right before they went away and had no complaints whatsoever towards them. Always nice and friendly crew. Would choose them today if they were still around everytime.
I always flew with US Airways in the mid-2000's to the early 2010's, rode with them till the 2015 merger.
Bro is finally back after 7 months.
Flew Allegheny DC-9 in 1980 when we flew to Florida!
When I began contracting with the U.S. government, I had to fly to a new city weekly. My airline of choice was US Airways. In 3 years, I only had one major delay and one delayed bag. I miss this airline, although it really does still exist, since it absorbed American. I was concerned that the level of service would degrade to what American was providing at the time, but thankfully this was not the case. My experiences with Southwest, United and Delta never approached the level of service with US Airways.
I flew us airways. They were fantastic
ive been waiting 4 days for this
A trend I’ve noticed with these:
Airline is founded circa 1920s-1930s with primarily air mail services
Airline enjoys a golden age in the 50s-70s, buying sleek new jets to replace their old props
Airline expands internationally in the 70s-90s, probably losing some money but still stable
September 11th happens and everything goes to shit
Airline struggles throughout the 2000s, merging with another carrier in the early 2010s.
Yeah...that's pretty much most post-9/11 defunct airline's story lol
I once got to tour a Piedmont 737 in Gainesville, FL, when I was 8. The captain was soooo nice! He took me on a private tour of the aircraft, showing me the cabin, the underbelly (cargo hold) and the cockpit. I got wings from the captain as well, and I just remember him as a strong, knowledgeable man, who sparked my interest in aviation. I'd later go on to be a flight attendant for TWA, but if it had not been for that captain, I wouldn't have been so thoroughly interested in aviation. Fond memories!
But now you have DEI personnel who can barely past the minimum requirement and are hired not for their skill but their sexual orientation and color of their skin
@@mikethompson3534 yes, diversity inclusive hiring has become the standard, and why shouldn't it? I kind of disagree with your assessment of it being only about that though. I wasn't hired because I was gay, or because I was white. I was hired because I possessed excellent customer service skills. There may be times when people are hired for those things, but as a whole, I don't belive it has much to do with it at all!
There is no such airport of Ronald Reagan airport. It’s called Washington National airport after our first not the union buster Reagan I hate this airport naming
US air always stood for u still Allegheny. A terrible airline US Airways was. They screwed Pittsburgh and were never an international carrier of any significance. They spoiled it all now we have the biggest stinker in the country AA labor problems and customer service issues are just the typical American Airlines strategy they suck really bad. I’m glad US Scare is gone but I will mention a few that I truly miss. TWA, Continental, and Northwest Airlines. If US Scare had remained a crummy regional from Pittsburgh they’d still be in business. Corporate Greed comes to mind. They blew it and don’t get me started on their awful CEO . He’s probably rolling in the dough after he screwed everything up
@@trevorrobinson2941that's not true. The name of the airport is actually Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
I love US Airways; I miss it deeply their best livery in my opinion was the dark blue with red and grey cheatline livery. The last time I flew US Airways was back in the summer of 2014 KBWI-KCTL-TJSJ-KCTL-KBWI. The leg from Baltimore to Charlotte was one of US Airways last operating 737-400s, the leg from Charlotte to San Juan was an A321. Returning from vacation Sanjuan to Charlotte was an A330-300 and Charlotte to Baltimore was an A320. That was during the time of their merger with American Airlines, I still have memorabilia from US Airways including Gemini Jets of the Dark blue livery 767 and new livery A330-300. Furthermore, I still have some old Sky Mall magazines from over a decade ago flying with them and pamphlets, I am currently looking at one of those pamphlets right now as I am typing this. I wish they were still around to enjoy the new grades to Concourse D at BWI, they still have the commuter terminal there where we would take summer vacation flights on CRJs from their US Airways Express fleet.
This is not true: 1. USAir was based in the East Coast. 2. US Airways came later. The West Coast, was after their merger with America West Airlines.
Pretty sure the video explains that buddy
@@Sideshowbob24But you state that he airline was based in Arizona while showing the pre-HP merger Wolf-created livery.
I felt the video adequately explained the America West merger. By the way @Sideshowbob24 the history of the airline industry is one of my major passions, and I have a vast library of books by R.E.G. Davies, Bob Serling and others on the history of the industry which I would be delighted to share with you. I am a bit bored of UA-cam videos about airline disasters and would love to see something more positive - I love your work and that of a retired United pilot, who has covered disasters but has also covered interesting aspects of operations of the major airlines, Ron Rogers.
As others have said, I'm just adding one more lol. Anyone who worked at AMR in 2013 knows it wasn't a merger. When DUI Doug/Dougweiser took over it was pretty clear 😂
Lmao he was my neighbor for years nice guy, but he's something else
Dougwiser 🤣🤣🤣🤣
its rare to see a powerpoint user still alive today
unlike SC (Scaring Crab), IBB (Ibirdball).
I flew US Airways my favorite airline when I migrated to the US in 2010 I flew them all over the country it was my go to Airline great service and friendly staff. It was a very sad day when it closed down. And ironically in 2016 I became a flight attendant with Piedmont Airlines for a short stint and all our metal had US Airways painted on them our training center was all US Airways but fully owned by American. I still miss US Airways up to this day. ✈️🥺
Can't believe I just found the American version of Ruairidh MacVeigh
Flew them quite a bit as a kid. It’s definitely my favorite livery no longer with us. Long live cactus
Well done video, ty
i never been on America/US Airways but i liked American Airways this is boosting-up nice nostalgia doe.
What does AWA, US Airways, and American Airlines have in common other than the fact they all merged together? Doug "The Drunk" Parker. He proceeded to destroy each airline 1 DUI at a time. The US Airways employees did not care for the preferential treatment that the AWA employees got and the issues still remained after the merger with AA. Ask any long term AA employee and they will be quite vocal about the AWA legacy employees .
Did you say it was "Arizona based"? Not until HP/America West took over. Also, it was "Piedmont Aviation", not Airlines. I think you could have mentioned that TWA was also absorbed into the gigantic mess that is now called AA, composed of pieces of all the predecessor companies.
@@rickbbbbyt well TWA doesn’t have anything to do with US airways
Can you go over AirTran Airways? They have been a big influence on the company I currently work for
US Airways didn’t die, rather it evolved into the new American (along side the old American which it took over). You’re kinda giving off the impression that US was like Eastern and shut its doors because it didn’t have any money.
ALLEGHANY Airlines/ US AIR🇺🇸, was Based/ Corporate Office in Crystal City, Arlington Virginia next to DCA Washington National Airport. Not Arizona, unless after they aquired AWA America West Airlines.
US AIR Begins with YOU/ U !🇺🇸✈
I reading somewhere that it was US Airways years ago that got the A 350 program started because they wanted something wider than the 330 but with the merger of America West qnd the hen American Airlines it he orders were cancelled but Delta took interest in the 350 and kept the ball rolling
Us airways became American Airlines after the merger
Hey Sideshow bob 24 👋👋
US Air Rays
Havent flown with them since 2008 but damn they were average
Unfortunately
Still
Allegheny
in
Reality
Why
Alter
Your
Signs
?
It was 1977 when airlines were deregulation
1978… but you were very close
4:37 if it’s called Pacific Southwest Airlines. Then how come there’s no W in between S and A
You wrote down the reason. It's a small w!
Woh-loh-lah-tah-mah-me-mat
US Air has always been a crap airline. Merging with American made no difference.
US Air always sucked
Good video. I really enjoyed it. I have never flown on US Airways but I read a lot about their rather turbulent history and numerous bankruptcies, as well as the Miracle on the Hudson. I always got the impression that they had an appalling reputation and were an airline to avoid flying. Was it true they were very close to shutting down in 2004? Have you seen the movie about Flight 1549?
Yes, they were in a very bad situation in 2004 to the point where people thought the airline would be liquidated and yes I have seen the 1549 movie.