America West Holdings Corporation was an

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

-based company whose primary holding was

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

. On May 19, 2005, America West Holdings Corporation announced it would acquire the

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

-based

US Airways Group US Airways Group Inc. was an airline holding company based in Tempe, Arizona. US Airways Group operated US Airways, along with its subsidiaries PSA Airlines, Inc. and Piedmont Airlines, Inc., which are wholly owned but marketed under the brandi ...

. The merged company adopted the well-known US Airways Group name and was based in America West's former corporate offices in Tempe. US Airways Group corporate offices in Arlington were closed, and most US Airways management were laid off. America West CEO Doug Parker became CEO of the merged company. The merger was completed on September 27, 2005. A merger of the two airlines'

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

operating certificates occurred on September 25, 2007 (the US Airways certificate survived), ending the 24-year history of the America West Airlines name.

History

The company was founded September 4, 1981, by a group of investors led by Edward R. Beauvais. The first flight for America West Airlines took place on August 1, 1983, using a leased

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

. Beauvais ran the company until he resigned in 1992. In December, 2004, America West Holdings Corporation announced interest in buying part of

ATA Airlines ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was a United States low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights ...

, but did not submit a bid.

Merger with US Airways Group

On April 22, 2005, it was reported that America West Holdings Corporation was in talks with

, which owned

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 ...

, regarding a possible merger with the latter. As reported in the press, US Airways would create a new holding company. Shares in that company would be given to America West Holdings shareholders as well as creditors of US Airways. On May 19, 2005, America West Holdings Corporation and US Airways Group announced plans to merge their operations.

Doug Parker William Douglas Parker (b. October 31, 1961) is an American businessman who was the Chairman of American Airlines Group, Inc., the parent company of American Airlines. Early life and education Parker grew up in Michigan and received a BA in ...

, America West's chief executive, said the merger would create "the nation's first full-service airline with the customer-friendly pricing structure of a low-fare carrier."

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

The proposed combined airline hoped to achieve profitability by cutting $600 million a year in costs. New equity investors, including Air Wisconsin Airways Corporation and

ACE Aviation Holdings ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. is a Canadian holding company that is the former parent company of Air Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal. In 2012, the company signified its intent to dissolve, but is still undergoing liquidation as of 2020. Hi ...

, the parent company of

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...

, pledged to invest a total of $350 million in the new company.

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

was also one of the investors. Later investments increased the total new equity raised to $565 million. Of that, ACE Aviation contributed $75 million for a 7% ownership stake. ACE Aviation also received a five-year, C$1.5 billion (US$1.19 billion) contract to maintain all of the merged company's mainline jets. ACE Aviation would also provide other services for the new company, including ground handling, training, and operation of regional jets. Such cooperation was expected to bring more traffic to Air Canada from the merged carriers, and lead to a code-sharing alliance in the future. On September 13, 2005, America West's shareholders approved the merger with 95.5 percent in favor. On September 16, 2005, the US Bankruptcy Court approved USAirways

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

Plan of Reorganization, clearing the way for the merger to be closed as soon as September 27, 2005. The merger was completed on September 27, 2005. In the weeks leading up to the merger announcement, Phoenix-area media reported that local passengers worried about cuts in service to the city's

Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in th ...

, where America West has its largest hub; such things have happened before when US Airways (or a predecessor company) merged with 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 ...

. But while the new company would operate under the US Airways name, management would be led by America West Airlines managers and would be located at America West's Phoenix headquarters. Under terms of the merger agreement, the America West board of Directors created two new entities. 1. A new US Airways Group was created to receive the bankrupt US Airways assets and form the new corporation. 2. America West Holdings was merged into Barbell Acquisition Corporation, a subsidiary of the new US Airways Group, on September 27, 2005. Through this transaction, America West Holdings became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new US Airways Group. The America West Holdings stockholders were required to authorize these changes. Upon completion the new US Airways Group would be owned by 37% of America West Holdings stockholders, 11% from the old US Airways Group debtholders, and 52% for new equity investors. Both of the merged airlines retained their names and continued operating until September 25, 2007, when America West's FAA certificate was merged into US Airways. On November 4, 2007, all America West flights listed in the Official Airline Guide and airline computer reservation systems were converted to operating under the US code at which time the former HP code was retired.Official Airline Guide

Divisions

America West Express America West Express was the brand name for America West Airlines commuter and regional flights operated by Mesa Air Group's Mesa Airlines under a code share agreement. Today Mesa Airlines operates for American Eagle. Mesa Airlines operated Ameri ...

*America West Vacations provided vacation packages that include airfare, accommodations and optional rental cars at selected destinations. These were only offered for destinations that America West flew to or offered as a

code share 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 ...

destination.

References

{{Airline holding companies of the United States Airline holding companies of the United States Companies based in Tempe, Arizona Holding companies established in 1981 Holding companies disestablished in 2005 American companies established in 1981 American companies disestablished in 2005