Allegheny Airlines

Allegheny Airlines

IATA ICAO Callsign AL ALO ALLEGHENY
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	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 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S.^[1] It was the forerunner of USAir which was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself merged with American Airlines. Its headquarters were at Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.^[2]

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 .

Allegheny before 1979[]

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)

	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[]

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 Dash 8 fleet were incorporated into a regional airline, Piedmont Airlines, in 2004.

As of March 2019 an American Airlines Airbus A319, registered N745VJ, is painted in Allegheny colors.^[12][13] 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.^[14][15]

Allegheny Airlines[]

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (May 2015)

Canada[]

• Montreal, Quebec – Montreal International Airport
• Toronto, Ontario – Toronto International Airport

Allegheny commuter[]

Historic fleet[]

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[]

• On November 14, 1955, an Allegheny Airlines Martin 2-0-2 was undertaking training flights at Wilmington Airport in New Castle County, Delaware, when the No. 1 engine caught fire during a single engine approach. On landing, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft was withdrawn from service and used for spare parts.^[20]
• On December 1, 1959, Allegheny Airlines Flight 371, a Martin 2-0-2, crashed into a mountain on approach to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, 25 fatalities.^[21][22]
• On October 19, 1962, an Allegheny Airlines flight attendant, Françoise de Moriere, fell to her death after being blown out a Convair 440 emergency exit door on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Providence, Rhode Island, during a scheduled descent into Hartford, Connecticut.^[23] This incident inspired James Dickey's poem Falling.^[24]
• On November 2, 1963, an Allegheny Airlines Martin 2-0-2 was damaged beyond repair under unknown circumstances while taxiing at Newark International Airport.^[25]
• On July 23, 1965, Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 crashed northeast of the Williamsport Regional Airport due to a right engine failure and subsequent failure to follow engine out procedures by the flight crew. None of the 40 occupants on board were killed, but 23 were injured.
• On November 29, 1966, Allegheny Airlines Flight 305, operated by a Convair 440, suffered a complete electrical failure on takeoff from Capital City Airport in Harrisburg, PA. The pilots attempted to abort the takeoff, but the reversers did not work, and the aircraft overran the runway, striking an approach light tower. The cause of the failure was later determined to be the result of an improperly installed heater.^[26]
• On December 24, 1968, Allegheny Airlines Flight 736, a Convair 580, crashed on approach to Bradford, Pennsylvania, killing 20 of the 47 people on board.^[27]
• On January 6, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 737, a Convair 580, also crashed on approach to Bradford, Pennsylvania, killing 11 of the 28 people on board.^[28]
• On September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9 en route from Cincinnati to Indianapolis, collided with a small private plane and crashed into a soybean field southeast of Indianapolis, near Shelbyville, Indiana, killing all 83 people aboard both aircraft.
• On June 7, 1971, Allegheny Airlines Flight 485, a Convair 580, en route from Washington, D.C., to New Haven, Connecticut (via New London, Connecticut) crashed short of the runway at New Haven. 26 passengers and 2 crew members were killed; Two passengers and one crew member survived. Pilot Error was the cause of the crash.^[29]
• On June 23, 1976, Allegheny Airlines Flight 121, a DC-9, crashed on the runway in windshear at Philadelphia International Airport. There were 86 injuries and 0 fatalities.^[30]
• On July 9, 1978, Allegheny Airlines Flight 453 crash-landed at Greater Rochester International Airport while arriving from Boston Logan International Airport. The BAC-111 aircraft was carrying 77 people, and there was one serious injury.^[31]

See also[]

• Air transportation in the United States
• List of defunct airlines of the United States

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allegheny Airlines.

• Timetableimages.com has timetables from the 1950s and 1960s showing where Allegheny flew and what it cost
• Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Memorial website by Dan McGlaun on the September 9, 1969, crash near Indianapolis