Piedmont Airlines, Inc./ˈpiːdmɒnt/ is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland,[2] near the city of Salisbury.[3] The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on American Eagle flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by American Airlines. Piedmont also provides ground handling and customer service for airports in the northeastern and western United States.
American regional airline, operating since 1962, using current name since 1993
This article is about the airline founded as Henson Airlines in 1962, but currently called Piedmont Airlines. For the airline founded as Piedmont Airlines in 1948, see Piedmont Airlines (1948–1989).
Started in 1961 as Henson Airlines, the airline was rebranded in 1993 to re-use the name of Piedmont Airlines (1948–1989), one of the predecessors of today's American Airlines, to protect the brand.
History
The airline was formed in 1961 by Richard A. Henson as Henson Aviation, a fixed-base operator in Hagerstown, Maryland. It began its first scheduled flights to Washington National Airport in 1962 under the Hagerstown Commuter name, later changed to Henson Airlines.[4]Allegheny Airlines (which became US Airways, which in turn has now merged with American Airlines) and Henson began one of the world's first code sharing arrangements in 1967. Henson re-branded itself as an Allegheny Commuter carrier using Beechcraft 99 aircraft. It initially developed a route structure serving Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore, while establishing a new headquarters for Allegheny Commuter at Salisbury, Maryland in 1968. In the 1970s, the airline upgraded to Short 330 and de Havilland Canada Dash 7 turboprops.[4]
In 1983, Piedmont Aviation bought Henson Airlines and re-branded the airline as "Henson, The Piedmont Regional Airline." Under Piedmont's control, the airline expanded rapidly, particularly in Florida. Both were purchased by the USAir Group in 1987 with Piedmont absorbed two years later and Henson's aircraft repainted in USAir Express livery.[5] The 1980s saw rapid growth by the company with the upgrade of its fleet to the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft and fleet expansion. With the growth in capacity, the airline expanded to Florida, including numerous intrastate routes in Florida, and it opened a maintenance facility in Jacksonville.[4]
The Piedmont name was resurrected in 1993, when USAir (the erstwhile Allegheny Airlines that became US Airways) renamed Henson to "Piedmont Airlines", to protect the Piedmont brand name, which could be used by others if not exercised in trade use for a period of time. USAir continued this practice by changing the name of its two other wholly owned regional airline subsidiaries, Jetstream and Suburban Airlines, to PSA Airlines and Allegheny Airlines, respectively. (Pacific Southwest Airlines was the name of a California-based airline merged into USAir.) In 1997, USAir was renamed US Airways, and Piedmont and Allegheny were likewise re-branded as US Airways Express carriers. US Airways merged Allegheny Airlines into Piedmont in 2004.
Operations
The airline had more than 10,000 employees, as of August 2022, and operated nearly 400 daily flights to more than 55 destinations.[6]
On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517, a BeechcraftB99 Airliner 15-passenger turboprop airplane, crashed near Grottoes, Virginia. The crash was fatal to all 12 passengers and both crewmembers; This was the first fatality of a female commercial U.S. pilot, First Officer Zilda A. Spadaro-Wolan. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that part of the probable cause of the crash was the airline's failure to standardize the cockpit configurations of its aircraft and on its failure to provide adequate training to its pilots.[11]
On November 16, 2008, Flight 4551, a US Airways ExpressDash 8 turboprop operated by Piedmont Airlines, took off from Lehigh Valley International Airport at 8:20am heading to Philadelphia International Airport, had to make an emergency landing.[12][13] The flight crew was indicated that the front nose gear hadn't come down and had to make a flyover the runway for confirmation. Of 35 passengers and 3 crew, there were no injuries. The aircraft (N326EN) incurred only minor damage and was returned to service shortly thereafter.
On January 1, 2011, US Airways Express Flight 4352, a Piedmont Airlines-operated Dash 8-100 turboprop forced an evacuation of the U.S. Capitol and fighter jets were scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base after Flight 4352 suffered radio problems on approach to Washington, DC'sRonald Reagan Washington National Airport and strayed into restricted airspace.[14][15] The Capitol was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes until the Dash 8 aircraft landed at Reagan National Airport.
On January 7, 2011, a Dash 8-100, operating as Piedmont Airlines Flight 4507 under US Airways Express from Philadelphia International Airport to Tweed New Haven Regional Airport in Connecticut was struck by lightning over the Long Island Sound.[16] The captain reported electrical problems and diverted safely to Long Island Macarthur Airport due to more favorable weather conditions. The aircraft had 33 passengers aboard who were then bussed to New Haven.
The first female commercial U.S. pilot fatality involving a propeller aircraft was that of First Officer Zilda A. Spadaro-Wolan, in the Henson Airlines flight 1517 turboprop crash of September 23, 1985 near Grottoes, Virginia."Aircraft Accident Report: Henson Airlines Flight 1517"(PDF).
Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.
2019-2024 WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии