Piedmont Airlines

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).

Piedmont Airlines

IATA US ICAO PDT Callsign PIEDMONT
Founded	1962
Hubs	As US Airways Express: Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Philadelphia International Airport
Focus cities	As US Airways Express: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Dividend Miles
Airport lounge	US Airways Club
Alliance	Star Alliance
Fleet size	44
Destinations	47
Parent company	US Airways Group, Inc.
Headquarters	Salisbury, Maryland
Key people	Stephen R. Farrow (CEO)
Website	www.piedmont-airlines.com

Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (pronounced /ˈpiːdmɒnt/) is an American regional airline operating for US Airways Express. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US Airways Group, headquartered in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury, it conducts flight operations using de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft. Its main base is Wicomico Regional Airport, Salisbury, with hubs at Philadelphia International Airport and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

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. Allegheny Airlines (now US Airways) and Henson began one of the world's first code sharing arrangements in 1967, and Henson re-branded itself as an Allegheny Commuter carrier using Beechcraft 99 aircraft. It initially developed a route structure serving Washington DC, Philadelphia and Baltimore while establishing a new headquarters for Allegheny Commuter at Salisbury, Maryland in 1968. In the 1970s the airline upgraded to Shorts 330 and de Havilland Dash 7 turboprops.

In 1983 Piedmont Aviation bought Henson 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. 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.

The Piedmont name was resurrected in 1993, when USAir (now 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 Allegheny Commuter, 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 was likewise re-branded as a US Airways Express carrier. US Airways merged Allegheny Airlines into Piedmont in 2004. The airline has 6,150 employees (at November 2007), and operates crew bases at Roanoke, Salisbury, New Bern, Charlottesville, and Harrisburg. As of December 2012 Piedmont is currently the exclusive operator out at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, Hilton Head Airport, Williamsport Regional Airport and will soon be the only operator out of Salisbury-Ocean City-Wicomico Regional Airport starting January 5, 2013 after Allegiant ends their service at the airport.^{[citation needed]}

Fleet

A US Airways Express Dash 8 at Albany International Airport

Short 330 of Henson Airlines at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on 11 September 1983

As of January 2013, the Piedmont Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Piedmont Airlines Current Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Passengers	Notes
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100	32	—	37	Introduced in 1984
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300	11	—	50	Introduced in 2001
Total	43	—

In January 2013, Piedmont Airlines average fleet age was 22.8 years old.

Retired Fleet

Piedmont Airlines Retired Fleet

Aircraft	Introduction	Retired	Replacement(s)	Notes
Beechcraft Model 99	1967	1987	Shorts 330
Shorts 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 8-200	1996	2008		In use by other carriers

Incidents and Accidents

• On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517, a Beechcraft B99 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.

• On Sunday, November 16, 2008, Flight 4551, a US Airways Express de Havilland Dash-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. 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.^{[citation needed]}

• On Saturday, January 1, 2011, US Airways Express Flight 4352, a Piedmont Airlines-operated de Havilland Dash-8 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's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and strayed into restricted airspace. The Capitol was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes until the Dash-8 aircraft landed at Reagan National Airport.

See also

• Air transportation in the United States
• List of companies of the United States
• List of airlines of the United States
• List of airports in the United States
• Transportation in the United States

External links

• Piedmont Airlines - US Airways Express