Allegheny Airlines

Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S.[1] 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.[2]

Allegheny Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
AL ALO ALLEGHENY
FoundedMarch 7, 1939 (1939-03-07)
(as All American Aviation)
Commenced operationsJanuary 1, 1953 (1953-01-01)
(as Allegheny Airlines)
Ceased operationsOctober 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)
(expanded and renamed to USAir)
Hubs
Parent companyUS Airways Group
HeadquartersCrystal City, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Key people Ed Colodny (President & CEO)

History

Allegheny Airlines began as All American Aviation Company providing mail delivery starting on 7 March 1939.[3] It was founded by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont and Alexis Felix du Pont Jr.

Allegheny before 1979

Allegheny had 41 Convair 580s in 1975.
BAC 1-11
Douglas DC-9
Nord 262 as Allegheny Commuter
BAC 1–11 in new livery in 1975

In 1949 the company was renamed All American Airways as it switched from air mail to passenger service. On 1 January 1953 it was again renamed, to Allegheny Airlines. Like other local service airlines, Allegheny was subsidized; in 1962 its revenue of $23.5 million included $6.5 million in "public service revenue".[4]

In 1960, Allegheny headquarters were in Washington, D.C.[5]

In 1953 Allegheny's network blanketed Pennsylvania, reaching Newark NJ to Cleveland and Huntington WV. It added Detroit (YIP) in 1956, Boston in April 1960, La Guardia in 1964, Norfolk in 1966, Toronto in 1967, and Louisville-Nashville-Memphis in 1968. The Lake Central Airlines merger in July 1968 added Chicago and St Louis, and the Mohawk Airlines merger in April 1972 added Montreal, Minneapolis and many New York cities. Houston in 1978, then Florida at the end of 1978 (TPA-MCO-PBI) and Phoenix in 1979.

In 1959 Allegheny debuted its first turbine airliner—a Convair 540, a Convair 340 with the piston engines replaced by Napier Elands. When Rolls-Royce bought Napier it dropped the Eland, so 540s in the United States reverted to piston; Allegheny's last 540 flights were in 1962. The airline bought new Fairchild F-27Js that the company named "Vistaliner". The F-27J was a U.S.-built version of the Fokker F27. The airline switched to General Motors/Allison turboprops in the Convair 580 which the carrier named the "Vistacruiser", the first CV580 flight was in June 1965. The last DC-3 flights were in 1962 and the last piston flights were in 1967.

In 1965 Allegheny announced it would add the first jet aircraft type to its fleet—the Douglas DC-9-10—which the airline stated would be placed into service in 1966.[6] Allegheny then added other jets, notably the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 which the company named the "Vistajet". Later jets included Boeing 727-100s, 727-200s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50s.[7][8] The Mohawk merger added British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven jets to the fleet as well. Allegheny Airlines was also the first airline with a network of affiliated regional airlines, the Allegheny Commuter system, which began with Henson Airlines in 1967.

As deregulation dawned, Allegheny, looking to shed its regional image, changed its name to USAir on October 28, 1979.[9]

Revenue passenger-miles (millions) (sched. service only)
AlleghenyMohawkLake Central
1951 30165
1955 564917
1960 13111636
1965 28934895
1970 1683566(merged 1968)
1975 3272(merged 1972)

USAir and US Airways

After Allegheny Airlines rebranded itself as USAir, the company retained its earlier name for its Allegheny Commuter service until 1989 when it became US Airways Express.

Under USAir, which eventually renamed itself US Airways, the Allegheny name continued to be used by the parent company, keeping the trademark under US Airways' control. Suburban Airlines was originally headquartered at the Reading Airport in Reading, Pennsylvania, and flew a large fleet of Short 330s and Short 360s, being the launch customer for the Short 360. It had three Fokker F27s, and was the last US operator of passenger F27s. After replacing much of its Short fleet with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s and retiring the F27s, Suburban merged with another wholly owned USAir subsidiary, Pennsylvania Airlines, which was headquartered at Harrisburg International Airport near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The combined airline retained the historic Allegheny Airlines name until it was merged with another wholly owned subsidiary, Piedmont Airlines.[10][11] The subsequent airline retained the Piedmont Airlines name. After retiring earlier aircraft, Allegheny, before and after its mergers, mainly flew De Havilland Canada Dash 8s to 35 airports in the northeastern United States, and eventually Canada, from hubs at Boston and Philadelphia. Its activities and Activities Dash 8 fleet were incorporated into a regional airline, Piedmont Airlines, in 2004.

As of October 2023 an American Airlines Airbus A321, registered N579UW, is painted in Allegheny colors.[12] It recently was on an Airbus A319 registered N745VJ, before being repainted into standard American livery in March 2023 and US Airways also operated this aircraft with a retro Allegheny Airlines paint scheme.

Destinations

This is a list of cities served by Allegheny Airlines until October 1979. It does not include destinations served before that year. Allegheny flew to dozens more cities at some point, including Erie, Providence and the Wyoming Valley.[13][14]

Allegheny Airlines

Canada

Allegheny commuter

Historic fleet

US Airways retrojet in Allegheny livery in 2012
Allegheny DC-9-30, circa 1970
Allegheny Airlines BAC 1-11, circa 1979
Allegheny Airlines fleet
Aircraft From To Number
Douglas DC-3 1953 1966 24
Martin 2-0-2 1955 1966 18
Convair 540 1959 1963 5
Convair 340 1960 1967 17
Convair 440 1962 1974 27
Fairchild F-27J / Fokker F27 1965 1974 27
Convair 580 1965 1978 40
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 1966 1979 89
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 1974 1978 8
Nord 262 1968 1977 13
Boeing 727-200 1970 1971 2
Boeing 727-100 1978 1979 11
British Aircraft Corp. BAC One-Eleven 1972 1979 31
Mohawk 298 (Nord 262 version) 1975 1979 9

Allegheny also briefly operated Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

See also

Notes

  1. "Allegheny Airlines April 1, 1979 Route Map".
  2. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. April 22, 1978. p. 1134.
  3. Nick Komons (August 1989). Air Progress: 62.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  4. Moody's Transportation Manual 1964
  5. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 8 April 1960. 492.
  6. "Time Table". timetableimages.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  7. "ALhello727".
  8. "ALnewdc95075". www.departedflights.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  9. "Allegheny Asks New Name". Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  10. "Lower Swatara township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on March 2, 2010.
  11. "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 16–22, 2004. 83.
  12. https://simpleflying.com/american-airlines-allegheny-retro-livery-airbus-a321/
  13. "routemaps2b". www.departedflights.com.
  14. "Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com.
  15. Allegheny Airlines timetable Dec 15, 1969
  16. Allegheny Airlines Timetable April 27, 1969
  17. Allegheny Airlines Timetable April 26, 1970
  18. Allegheny Commuter Timetable Sept. 5, 1979
  19. "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N172A Wilmington-Newcastle County Airport, DE (ILG)".
  20. Eastwood/Roach 1991, pages 267-269
  21. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N174A Williamsport-Lycoming County Airport, PA (IPT)". aviation-safety.net.
  22. "Stewardess is Swept Through Plane Door". The New York Times. October 20, 1962. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  23. Dickey, James (1970). Self-Interviews. New York: Doubleday.
  24. "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N177A Newark International Airport, NJ (EWR)".
  25. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-440 N3414 Harrisburg Airport, PA (HAR)".
  26. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-580 N5802 Bradford Airport, PA (BFD)". aviation-safety.net.
  27. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-580 N5825 Bradford Airport, PA (BFD)". aviation-safety.net.
  28. "NTSB Report Allegheny Airlines, Inc., Allison Prop Jet Convair 340/440, N5832, New Haven, Connecticut, June 7, 1971" (PDF).
  29. "NTSB Report AAR-78-2 Allegheny Airlines, Inc., Douglas DC-9, N994VJ, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1976" (PDF). Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  30. "NTSB report of Flight 453 crash" (PDF).
  31. Accident description for N29824 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on August 25, 2023.

References

  • Eastwood, Tony; Roach, John (1991). Piston Engine Airliner Production List. West Drayton, England: The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0-907178-37-5.
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