Empire Airlines was a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

serving the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Sout ...

beginning in 1976. In 1985, the airline was purchased by

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlin ...

, which itself was later purchased by USAir, and whose name then lived on in the

US Airways Express US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously o ...

network before

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

was merged into

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

in 2015. Founded by Paul Quackenbush, Empire Airlines began with its hub at the

Oneida County Airport Oneida County Airport was a public airport in Whitestown in Oneida County, New York, northwest of downtown Utica. The airport covered and had two runways. Oneida County closed the airport in January 2007 and transferred operations to Grif ...

serving Utica and

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which li ...

. Much of its early growth came by picking up routes abandoned by

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself me ...

as they concentrated on service to larger cities. Empire expanded throughout the early 1980s to destinations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. For a time, Empire aircraft also provided connecting passenger feeder service as a "banner carrier" for

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

(Pan Am) operating as

Pan Am Express Pan Am Express was a brand name for a code sharing passenger feed service operated by other airlines on behalf of Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). It was founded in the early 1980s, and lasted until the demise of Pan Am in 1991. History In ...

at New York–JFK International Airport (JFK). In early 1983, Empire was operating Pan Am Express service with

Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokker ...

twin jets between New York-JFK and Buffalo, Ithaca, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica/Rome in New York; Pan Am was operating an international and domestic passenger hub at JFK at the time. Toward the end of its existence Empire announced plans to phase out its Swearingen Metro II turboprop fleet and become an all-jet regional airline. Coinciding with this was a decision to reduce their presence in Utica and relocate their headquarters and most of their operations to

Syracuse Hancock International Airport Syracuse Hancock International Airport is a joint civil–military airport five miles (8 km) northeast of downtown Syracuse, New York, and south of Watertown. Operated by the Syracuse Department of Aviation, it is located off Interstate 81, n ...

(SYR) which also served as a hub for the airline.

History

Empire was founded in the 1975 as Oneida County Aviation, a small carrier based in Utica. After the passage of the

Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Bo ...

in 1978, the airline saw potential to grow a hub operation at larger nearby Syracuse using a fleet of 80-seat

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokker ...

twin jets and smaller 19-seat Swearingen Metro II propjets. Empire acquired additional F28s from Philadelphia-based

Altair Airlines Altair Airlines was an airline based in Philadelphia. It was in service from 1967 to 1982. According to its June 15, 1982 system timetable, the Altair name was taken from the first magnitude star " Altairius" brightest in the constellation "Aqui ...

after that airline shut down in 1982. In addition to hub flights at Syracuse, Empire offered direct flights from other medium-sized Mid-Atlantic cities like Rochester and Buffalo to major business centers like New York and Boston. Empire was named

Air Transport World ''Air Transport World'' (''ATW'') is an online and print trade publication covering the global air transportation industry. It is owned by Informa and is a sister publication to ''Aviation Week'', the ''Aviation Daily'' and ''MRO Digest'', which ...

Regional Airline of the Year for 1984. Fokker F28-4000 N119UR Empire

Empire's success attracted the attention of Piedmont Airlines, a pre-deregulation "local service carrier" based in North Carolina. After deregulation, Piedmont expanded into the Northeast, starting with a hub opened at

Baltimore–Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...

in about 1982. Piedmont bought Empire in 1985 and merged them into itself on 1 May 1986, which resulted in additional Fokker F28 jets being added to the Piedmont fleet. Syracuse joined Baltimore (BWI), Charlotte (CLT), and Dayton (DAY), OH as hubs in Piedmont's system. In about 1987, Piedmont opened an extension to the south concourse at Syracuse Hancock Airport to handle additional growth. The dominant pre-deregulation local-service carrier in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast,

USAir US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon b ...

, saw Piedmont's growth into the Northeast as a threat to its lucrative and often previously monopoly routes from medium-size cities such as Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. As part of the industry-wide consolidation of 1986–1987, USAir bought Piedmont in 1987. USAir operated Piedmont as a separate unit, including the old Empire Syracuse hub and F28 jets previously operated by Empire and then Piedmont, until Piedmont was completely merged into USAir in August 1989. By the early 1990s the old Empire Airlines hub was gone, its connecting traffic moved mostly to USAir's key hubs in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. USAir subsequently changed its name to

which in turn was merged into

in 2015.

Destinations served

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

** Utica (

)* - hub, later focus city ** Albany (

Albany International Airport Albany International Airport is six miles (9 km) northwest of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority. ALB covers of land. It is an airport of entry in the town of Colonie ...

) **

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluen ...

( Broome County Airport) ** Buffalo (

Buffalo Niagara International Airport Buffalo Niagara International Airport is in Cheektowaga, New York. The airport serves Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York United States, and the southern Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest airport i ...

) ** Elmira (

Elmira Corning Regional Airport Elmira Corning Regional Airport is in Chemung County, New York, seven miles northwest of Elmira and eight miles east of Corning. It is in the town of Big Flats but its mailing address is Horseheads, New York. The airport was formerly Elmira ...

) ** Islip (

Long Island MacArthur Airport Long Island MacArthur Airport (formerly known as Islip Airport) is a public airport in Ronkonkoma, New York, on Long Island. The Town of Islip owns and operates the airport, which serves about two million airline passengers a year, as well as ge ...

) ** Ithaca ( Tompkins County Airport) **

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

(

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

) **

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

( Niagara Falls International Airport) ** Rochester (

Greater Rochester International Airport Frederick Douglass - Greater Rochester International Airport is a public airport located within the City of Rochester, three miles (6 km) southwest of Downtown, in Monroe County, New York, United States. It is owned and operated by Mo ...

) **

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

(

Griffiss International Airport Griffiss International Airport is a public airport located east of the central business district of Rome, a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. This airport is publicly owned by County of Oneida. It is located on the former site o ...

) **

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas * Syracuse, Mi ...

(

) - focus city, later hub ** White Plains (

Westchester County Airport Westchester County Airport is a county-owned airport in Westchester County, New York, three miles (6 km) northeast of downtown White Plains, with territory in the towns of North Castle and Harrison, New York, and village of Rye Brook, Ne ...

) * Connecticut **

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...

(

Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about half ...

) *

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

(

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internati ...

) *

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

(

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

) *

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

(

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primary ...

) *

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

** Newark (

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Cou ...

) *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

** Cleveland (

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is an international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, the largest and busiest airport in the state, and the 43rd busiest a ...

) *

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada **

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

(

Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (french: L'aéroport international Macdonald-Cartier) is the main international airport serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and its metropolitan area kno ...

) *

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

, Canada **

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, ( Montreal-Dorval International Airport) * Rhode Island **

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

(

T. F. Green Airport Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport is a public international airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, south of the state's capital and largest city of Providence. Opened in 1931, the airport was named for former Rhode Isl ...

) *

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the n ...

** Burlington (

Burlington International Airport Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport serving Burlington, Vermont, the state of Vermont's largest municipality. It is owned by the City of Burlington and located in the neighboring city of South Burlington, thr ...

) *

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

(

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

) ''Those airports marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer served by commercial air service.''

Fleet

Piper Aztec The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined light aircraft aimed at the general-aviation market. The United States Navy and military forces in other countries also used it in small numbers. Origin ...

- 1 (1975–1976) *

Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

- 3 (1975–1979) * Swearingen Metroliner II - 6 (1977–1985) *

- 13 (1980–1986)

References

External links

US Airways: A Heritage Story

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Airlines (1976-1985) Companies based in Oneida County, New York Defunct companies based in Syracuse, New York Defunct companies based in New York (state) Economy of the Northeastern United States Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1976 Airlines disestablished in 1985 1976 establishments in New York (state)

History

Destinations served

Fleet

See also

References

External links