Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American
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 ...
headquartered at the
Salisbury Regional Airport
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Wicomico County
Wicomico County () is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Maryland, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,588. The county seat is Salisbury. The county was named for the Wicomico River, whic ...
,
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 ...
,
near the
city of Salisbury
The City of Salisbury is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) located on the northern fringes of Adelaide, South Australia. It had population of 137,979 people in 2016 and encompasses an area of 158 km². The council ...
.
The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
American Airlines Group
American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways ...
and it is paid by fellow group member
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on
American Eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Piedmont operates a fleet consisting of exclusively
Embraer ERJ145 regional jet aircraft.
Its main base is
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
with an additional hub at
Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport ( IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles we ...
. 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)
Piedmont Airlines was a United States airline from 1948 to 1989, when it was acquired by and merged into USAir. Its headquarters were at One Piedmont Plaza in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a building that is now part of Wake Forest University. ...
, 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
A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...
in
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland,
United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...
. It began its first scheduled flights to
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 ...
in 1962 under the Hagerstown Commuter name, later changed to Henson Airlines.
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 ...
(which became
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 History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...
, which in turn has now merged with
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
) and Henson began one of the world's first
code sharing
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
arrangements in 1967. Henson re-branded itself as an
Allegheny Commuter
Allegheny, Alleghany or Allegany may refer to:
Places Geologic and geographic features
* Allegheny River, in Pennsylvania and New York
* Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vir ...
carrier using
Beechcraft 99
The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...
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
Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 United ...
in 1968. In the 1970s, the airline upgraded to
Short 330
The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...
and
de Havilland Canada Dash 7
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL, short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent comp ...
turboprops.
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
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. 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
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, including numerous intrastate routes in Florida, and it opened a maintenance facility in
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
.
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
PSA Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered at Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Air ...
and
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 ...
, respectively. (
Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...
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
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 ...
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.
As of January 2022, Piedmont is currently the exclusive operator at
Williamsport Regional Airport
Williamsport Regional Airport serves Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the surrounding area with a population of about 200,000. The airport serves about 40,000 passengers annually.
The airport is five miles east of Williamsport, in Lycoming Coun ...
,
Pitt–Greenville Airport
Pitt–Greenville Airport is a public airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space ...
,
Florence Regional Airport
Florence Regional Airport is three miles east of Florence, in Florence County, South Carolina.
The only scheduled flights are American Eagle to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, about 30 minutes.
Facilities
The airport covers and has ...
,
Watertown International Airport
Watertown International Airport is in the Town of Hounsfield in Jefferson County, New York, United States, west of Watertown. The airport is used for general aviation, but has scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Serv ...
, and
Salisbury Regional Airport
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
.
Piedmont Airlines currently flies under the
American Eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
brand, after a merger of
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
and US Airways in December 2013.
The airline operates maintenance bases in
Albany,
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
,
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
,
Roanoke and
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
.
Crew bases
Piedmont has crew bases in three locations:
*
Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport ( IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles we ...
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
*
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
*
Harrisburg International Airport
Harrisburg International Airport is a public airport in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Middletown, Pennsylvania, nine miles (15 km) southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. It is owned by the Susquehanna Area Regional ...
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Fleet
![USAirways-Piedmont-Dash8-at-ALB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/USAirways-Piedmont-Dash8-at-ALB.JPG)
As of December 2022, the Piedmont Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft.
Retired fleet
Incidents and accidents
*On September 23, 1985,
Henson Airlines Flight 1517
On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517 crashed in Grottoes, Virginia, while on approach to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. The two pilots and twelve passengers were killed.
Accident details
Henson Airlines Flight 1517 was ...
, a
Beechcraft
Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...
B99 Airliner 15-passenger
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...
airplane, crashed near
Grottoes, Virginia
Grottoes is an incorporated town in Augusta and Rockingham counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 2,668 at the 2010 census.
The Rockingham County portion of Grottoes is part of the Harrisonburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, ...
. 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
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
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 November 16, 2008, Flight 4551, a
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 ...
Dash 8
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
turboprop operated by Piedmont Airlines, took off from
Lehigh Valley International Airport
Lehigh Valley International Airport (formerly Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport) is a domestic airport located in Hanover Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley International Airport is located in the center ...
at 8:20am heading to
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
, had to make an
emergency landing
An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
.
The flight crew was indicated that the front nose gear hadn't come down and had to make a flyover the
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
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.
*On January 1, 2011,
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 ...
Flight 4352, a Piedmont Airlines-operated
Dash 8-100 turboprop forced an evacuation of the
U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
and fighter jets were scrambled from
Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...
after Flight 4352 suffered radio problems on approach to
Washington, DC's 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 ...
and strayed into restricted airspace.
The Capitol was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes until the Dash 8 aircraft landed at Reagan National Airport.
*On January 7, 2011, a
Dash 8-100, operating as Piedmont Airlines Flight 4507 under
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 ...
from
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
to
Tweed New Haven Regional Airport
Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles southeast of downtown New Haven, in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective Sep 15, 2016. The airport is partly located i ...
in Connecticut was struck by lightning over the
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
.
The captain reported electrical problems and diverted safely to
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 g ...
due to more favorable weather conditions. The aircraft had 33 passengers aboard who were then bussed to New Haven.
*On May 18, 2013,
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 ...
Flight 4560 made a
belly landing
A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term ''gear-up landing'' refers to incidents in which the pilot ...
at
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 Count ...
after landing gear would not extend. All passengers and crew members were evacuated safely.
See also
*
Air transportation in the United States
The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each
*
List of airlines of the United States
This is a list of airlines which have an air operator's certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States.
Note: Destinations in bold indicate primary hubs, those in ''italic'' indicate secondary hubs, and those with ...
*
List of airports in the United States
The list of airports in the United States is broken down into separate lists due to the large number of airports.
Primary airports
Public-use and military airports in each U.S. state and territory can be found on the following lists:
Airports ...
*
Transportation in the United States
Transportation in the United States is facilitated by road, air, rail, and waterways. The vast majority of passenger travel occurs by automobile for shorter distances, and airplane (or railroad, in some regions) for longer distances. In desc ...
References
External links
*
{{American Eagle Carriers
1961 establishments in Maryland
Airlines based in Maryland
Airlines established in 1961
American Airlines Group
American companies established in 1961
Regional Airline Association members
Regional airlines of the United States
Salisbury, Maryland
US Airways Group
Wicomico County, Maryland