Piedmont Airlines, Inc.
IATA ICAO Callsign
PT PDT PIEDMONT
Founded1961 (1961) as Henson Airlines
Commenced operations1962 (1962)
AOC #HNAA001A[1]
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programAAdvantage
AllianceOneworld (affiliate)
Fleet size61
Destinations55+
Parent companyAmerican Airlines Group
HeadquartersSalisbury, Maryland
Key peopleEric Morgan (President & CEO)
FounderRichard A. Henson
Employees9,800+ (April 2019)
Websitepiedmont-airlines.com

Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (/ˈpdmɒnt/ PEED-mont) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in 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.

Piedmont operates a fleet consisting exclusively of Embraer ERJ 145 regional jet aircraft. Its main base is Philadelphia International Airport with an additional hub at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The company has a team of more than 9,800 employees, operating flights to nearly 50 destinations.

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]

As of January 2022, Piedmont is currently the exclusive operator at Pitt–Greenville Airport, Florence Regional Airport, Watertown International Airport, and Salisbury Regional Airport.

Piedmont Airlines currently flies under the American Eagle brand after a merger of American Airlines and US Airways in December 2013.

The airline operates maintenance bases in Albany, Charlotte, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Richmond, Roanoke and Salisbury.[7] Piedmont has crew bases in Charlotte, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. [6]

Fleet

An American Eagle ERJ 145, operated by Piedmont Airlines, on approach to Baltimore.

As of August 2023, the Piedmont Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[8]

Piedmont Airlines Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers Notes
Y+ Y Total
Embraer ERJ 145 61 3 47 50
Total 61

Retired fleet

Piedmont Airlines Retired Fleet
Aircraft[4] Introduction Retired Replacement(s) Notes
Beechcraft Model 99 1967 1987 Short 330
Short 330 1977 1989 de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100
de Havilland Canada Dash 7 1979 1997 de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 1993 2017 Embraer ERJ 145 Last flight was November 29, 2017.
Bombardier Q200 1996 2008
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 2000 2018 Embraer ERJ 145 Last flight was July 4, 2018.[9]

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

  1. "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  2. "Career Opportunities." Piedmont Airlines. Retrieved on May 20, 2009. "5443 Airport Terminal Rd Salisbury, MD 21804 "
  3. "Our Company". Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Piedmont History". Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  5. Flight International April 12–18, 2005
  6. 1 2 "Our Company". Piedmont Airlines. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  7. http://piedmont-airlines.com/News/Latest-News1/Post/2768/Piedmont-expands-maintenance-network-to-Albany-NY
  8. "Piedmont Airlines Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  9. "After 33 years, Piedmont Airlines retires planes that revolutionized regional industry". Delmarva Daily Times. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  10. 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).
  11. "Accident: Piedmont DH8C at Philadelphia on Nov 16th 2008, nose gear did not deploy". avherald.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  12. "Aviation Photo #1445445: De Havilland Canada DHC-8-311 Dash 8 - US Airways Express (Piedmont Airlines)". Airliners.net. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  13. Sarah Brumfield (January 1, 2011). "Pilot error prompts evacuation of U.S. Capitol building". thestar.com. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  14. Mary Compton (January 1, 2011). "Jets Scrambled Over Capitol Hill Airspace Scare". ABC News. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  15. "US Airways Conn.-bound flight safely lands in NY". The Seattle Times. January 7, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  16. NBC News (May 18, 2013). "Plane makes belly landing at Newark Airport, no injuries reported". Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  17. American Airlines worker 'ingested' into engine | NewsNation Prime, retrieved January 2, 2023
  18. "Airline worker killed in accident at Alabama airport". NBC News. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
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