Allegheny Airlines

Allegheny Airlines
Founded	1939 (as Allegheny Airlines)
Commenced operations	August 1957
Ceased operations	1979 (Name change to USAir, later US Airways, now part of American Airlines)
Hubs	; ; ; Allegheny County Airport; (1946–1951); ; ; ; Pittsburgh International Airport; (1951–1979); ; ; ;
Frequent-flyer program	AAdvantage
Fleet size	315
Destinations	31
Parent company	US Airways
Headquarters	; Washington, D.C., U.S.; Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Key people	Keith Houk (President); Ed Colodny (CEO and President)

Allegheny Airlines (IATA: AL, ICAO: ALO, Call sign: ALLEGHENY) was a U.S. airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1952 to 1979. It was a forerunner of US Airways, now merged into American Airlines. Its headquarters were at Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.^[1]

History[edit]

Allegheny Airlines began as All American Aviation Company providing mail delivery starting on 7 March 1939.^[2] It was founded by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont and Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr..

Allegheny before 1979[edit]

Allegheny had 41 Convair 580 in 1975

Allegheny used the BAC 1-11

Allegheny had 36 Douglas DC-9s

Nord 262 as Allegheny Commuter

BAC 1-11 in new livery in 1975

US Airways retrojet in Allegheny livery in 2012

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 of the time, Allegheny was subsidized; in 1962 its operating revenues of $23.5 million included $6.5 million in "public service revenue".^[3]

In 1960, Allegheny headquarters were in Washington, D.C.^[4]

Allegheny added the Convair 540 to its fleet in 1961.^{[citation needed]} The aircraft proved unreliable, incurring problems with its British-made Napier Elands that had replaced the Convair's piston engines. 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".

Allegheny Airlines was the first airline to create a network of affiliated regional airlines, the Allegheny Commuter System.^{[citation needed]}

Contributing to Allegheny’s growth were the acquisitions of regional carriers Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972. Mohawk added BAC One-Elevens to the fleet. Allegheny added other jets, notably the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 which the company named the "Vistajet". Other jets included Boeing 727-100s and 727-200s.

As deregulation dawned, Allegheny, looking to shed its regional image, changed its name to USAir on October 28, 1979.^[5]

Revenue Passenger-Miles (Millions)
	Allegheny	Mohawk	Lake Central
1951	30	16	5
1955	56	49	17
1960	131	116	36
1965	289	348	95
1970	1683	566	(merged 1968)
1975	3272	(merged 1972)

USAir and US Airways[edit]

Allegheny DC-9-30, circa 1970

Allegheny Airlines BAC 1-11, circa 1979

After Allegheny Airlines rebranded itself as USAir, the company retained its earlier name for its Allegheny Commuter service, later renamed 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 Shorts 360. It had three Fokker F27 "Friendship" turboprops, and was the last US operator of passenger F27s. After replacing much of its Shorts fleet with DeHavilland DHC-8s, and retiring the F27s, it merged with another fully owned USAir subsidiary, Pennsylvania Airlines, headquartered at Harrisburg International Airport near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the combined airline retained the historic name until its own merger with another wholly owned subsidiary, Piedmont Airlines.^[6]^[7] After retiring earlier aircraft, Allegheny, before and after its mergers, mainly flew De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to 35 airports in the northeastern United States, and eventually Canada, from hubs at Boston and Philadelphia. Its activities and Dash 8 fleet were incorporated into a regional airline, Piedmont Airlines, in 2004.

As of 2016, an Airbus A319 aircraft (N745VJ) of American Airlines is painted in Allegheny colors.^[8]

Destinations[edit]

This is a list of cities Allegheny Airlines served until October 1979. It does not include most cities served before then. Allegheny flew to dozens more cities at some point, including Erie, Providence and the Wyoming Valley.^[9]^[10]