POV: date=September 2008 US Airways, Inc. is the fifth largest airline in the United States. A member of the Star Alliance, it has a fleet of 357 mainline jet aircraft and 329 regional jet and turbo-prop aircraft connecting 240 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Europe. As of May 2008, US Airways employs 36,632 people worldwide and operates 3,512 daily flights (1,392 US Airways Mainline, 2,120 US Airways Express as of May 2008). The US in US Airways represents "United States". The airline was known previously as USAir from 1979 to 1996. It merged with America West in 2005. The combined group is now run from America West's base in Tempe, Arizona, and has adopted some of its business practices, however the merged airline uses the US Airways brand, and the parent company is now known as US Airways Group.January 2008 Passenger Airline Employment Up 3.4 Percent from January 2007, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, March 16, 2008Lean Production in the Air: Low-cost Competition Taking Off in the Global Airline Industry and Implications for Employment Relations, Nancy Johnson, Labor and Employment Relations Association Series, Proceedings of the 58th Annual Meeting

US Airways operates hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix. US Airways also maintains focus city operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, LaGuardia Airport in New York, and Logan International Airport in Boston.

The airline operates the US Airways Shuttle, a US Airways brand which provides hourly service between key Northeastern markets. Regional airline service is branded as US Airways Express, operated by contract and subsidiary airline companies.

Heritage

US Airways traces its history to All American Aviation Company, a company founded by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont, Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. and CEO Steven Gardner. Hubbed in Pittsburgh, the airline served the Ohio River valley in 1939. In 1949, the company was renamed All American Airways as it switched from airmail to passenger service. The company was again renamed, to Allegheny Airlines, in 1953.

Allegheny expanded progressively, introducing the Douglas DC-9 in 1966 and absorbing Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972 to become one of the largest carriers in the northeastern United States and sixth largest airline in the world as measured by passenger boardings.

But with expansion came growing pains: by the 1970s Allegheny Airlines had earned the nickname "Agony Air" due to customer dissatisfaction with the carrier's service.