Piedmont Airlines

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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

Focus cities

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Frequent-flyer program

Fleet size

Destinations

Parent company

US Airways Group, Inc.

Headquarters

Salisbury, Maryland

Key people

Stephen R. Farrow (CEO)

Website

www.piedmont-airlines.com

Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (pronounced as Peed-mont) 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,^[1] near the city of Salisbury,^[2] it conducts flight operations using de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft.^[3] Its main base is Wicomico Regional Airport, Salisbury, with hubs at Philadelphia International Airport and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

Contents

1 History
2 Fleet
- 2.1 Active Fleet
- 2.2 Retired
3 Incidents and Accidents
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

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.^[3] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[3]

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 2011 Piedmont is currently the exclusive operator out at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, Hilton Head Airport and Williamsport Regional Airport.^{[citation needed]}

Fleet

A US Airways Express Dash 8 at Albany International Airport

In October 2010, Piedmont Airlines average fleet age was 20.4 years old.^[5] All aircraft are operated as US Airways Express. As of December 2010, the Piedmont Airlines has a fleet of 44 aircraft^[6] including the following aircraft:^[4]^[7]

Active Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100	33	37
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300	11	50
Total	44

Retired

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

Aircraft	Year Retired	Replacement
Beechcraft Model 99		Shorts 330
Shorts 330		de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100
de Havilland Canada Dash 7		de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-200

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.^[8]

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.^[9]^[10] The Capitol was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes until the Dash-8 aircraft landed at Reagan National Airport.

On Saturday, January 7, 2011, a Bombardier 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. 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.

On Friday, May 18, 2012, pilot Brett Dieter was arrested at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after a loaded Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolver was found in his baggage prior to his scheduled flight between Buffalo and LaGuardia Airport.^[11]

References

^ "Career Opportunities." Piedmont Airlines. Retrieved on May 20, 2009. "5443 Airport Terminal Rd Salisbury, MD 21804 "
^ "About Piedmont." Piedmont Airlines. Retrieved on May 20, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Piedmont History". http://www.piedmont-airlines.com/history.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
^ ^a ^b Flight International 12–18 April 2005
^ Fleet Age for Piedmont Airlines
^ "About Piedmont". Piedmont Airlines. http://piedmont-airlines.com/about.shtml.
^ "Piedmont Airlines". CH-Aviation.ch. http://www.ch-aviation.ch/airlinepage.php. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
^ 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". http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR86-07.pdf.
^ Sarah Brumfield (January 1, 2011). "Pilot error prompts evacuation of U.S. Capitol building". thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/914584--pilot-error-prompts-evacuation-of-u-s-capitol-building?bn=1. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
^ Mary Compton (January 1, 2011). "Jets Scrambled Over Capitol Hill Airspace Scare". ABC News. http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/jets-scrambled-over-capitol-hill-airspace-scare.html. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
^ Airline pilot allegedly traveled with gun http://www.buffalonews.com/city/police-courts/courts/article862751.ece

External links

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Piedmont Airlines - US Airways Express

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Airlines	Piedmont Airlines • PSA Airlines • US Airways (Destinations)

Heritage airlines	Allegheny Airlines • America West Airlines • Lake Central Airlines • Mohawk Airlines • Piedmont Airlines (1948-1989) • Pacific Southwest Airlines • Trump Shuttle • US Air

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Air Wisconsin · Chautauqua Airlines · Colgan Air · Mesa Airlines · Piedmont Airlines · PSA Airlines · Republic Airlines · SkyWest Airlines · Trans States Airlines
Former carriers: Air Midwest · CCAir · CommutAir · Crown Airways · FloridaGulf Airlines · Jet Express · Liberty Express Airlines · Mesaba Airlines · Midway Airlines · Paradise Island Airlines · Potomac Air · Ransome Airlines · Shuttle America · Southern Jersey Airways · States West Airlines

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