America West Airlines

The early years

The airline was established in February 1981 and began operations August 1, 1983, using three leased Boeing 737 aircraft flying out of their base in Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), with Ed Beauvais, a well-known airline industry consultant, as their CEO. In the early years, passengers could purchase their tickets on board the aircraft.

The airline quickly expanded, with 11 737s operating flights to 13 cities, and by late 1986 they developed a secondary hub in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1984, America West's fleet grew to 21 aircraft operating flights to 23 cities. [1] (Timetableimages has timetable maps showing America West routes in 1983, 1984, and 1991.)

America West was one of the first airlines to use extensive "cross-utilization", in which employees were trained in a variety of airline jobs, such as pilots being trained in dispatch, and both baggage handlers and flight attendants also being trained as gate agents. America West also started as a "full-service" airline, in contrast with Southwest Airlines, the discount air carrier competing in many of the same markets. America West also used an aggressive employee stock ownership program, in which new employees were required to invest 20% of their salary in company stock, providing a steady flow of cash as the company grew. America West pilots and other employees were paid wages far below those of their competitors (see Pilot salary history, MIT Study.)

By 1985 America West had outgrown their gate space at Sky Harbor International Airport, and during the construction of Terminal 4, approved in 1986, a temporary concourse was added to the southwest corner of Terminal 3 to give them six more gates (growing to eleven by 1990).

The airline's rapid growth continued in 1986, and the airline greatly expanded their fleet, primarily with Boeing 757-200s purchased from Northwest Airlines (following Northwest's acquisition of Republic Airlines) as well as a number of de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft for local service from Phoenix and Las Vegas including flights to Grand Canyon National Park Airport. The airline also started operating red-eye flights from Las Vegas in order to increase aircraft utilization.

America West's rapid growth resulted in large operating losses, and by 1986 the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Originally slated to occupy the vast majority of the gates in Terminal 4, the airline had to reduce their commitment to the city of Phoenix to just 28 gates, with the growing Southwest Airlines agreeing to lease the remainder of Terminal 4.

In August 1987, a unit of Ansett Transport Industries, an Australian airline company and at the time 50% owned by News Corporation, purchased a 21.6 percent stake in America West.

In 1988, Patrick Thurston, Vice-President of Operations, Bob Russell, Chief of Pilots, and Carl Wobser, a captain, all pleaded guilty to multiple counts of narcotics trafficking.

In 1989, Ansett used its influence and investment money in America West Airlines, to try to break a pilots strike in Australia (1989 Australian pilots' dispute). The following article is from an America West pilot who crossed the Australian pilots' picket line: The Down UnderWare Chronicles America West Pilot article.

As they explored destinations beyond the United States, America West filed with U.S. Department of Transportation for a Phoenix-to-Sydney route in order to provide connecting with now-defunct Ansett Airlines in Australia. The proposal was rejected, however, and the Reagan Administration awarded the route to another airline. America West did lease four Boeing 747-200 aircraft (formerly operated by KLM) and began operating nonstop wide body 747 service between Phoenix and Honolulu, Hawaii and also nonstop between Honolulu and Nagoya, Japan. The 747 was the only wide body aircraft ever operated by America West. The airline also expanded narrow body jet service to Mexican destinations.

In 1990, the America West moved into the new Terminal 4 at Phoenix and also took delivery of several Airbus A320 aircraft originally destined for the now-defunct Braniff Airways. Braniff had purchased the original aircraft order rights from Pan Am, another troubled carrier, and the A320s were sold to America West at a steep discount. The U.S. Department of Transportation started classifying America West Airlines as a major airline.

Despite these developments, the airline continued to lose money. Operating expenses at Terminal 4 were far higher than in the temporary Terminal 3 concourse. The Nagoya route experienced extremely low ticket sales, and flights there were flying with almost no passengers. In addition, tensions in the leadup to the Gulf War were causing fuel costs to rise. The combined impact forced America West to file for bankruptcy in June 1991.

In June 1995, W. Douglas Parker joined America West Airlines as senior vice president and chief financial officer. He would later be elected chairman, president and CEO in September 2001.[2] The airline would be fined $2,500,000 for maintenance violations in July 1998 (America West Airline Fined $2.5 Million for Violations.), and in August 2000, the FAA was reportedly prepared to ground the airline for these violations. (see FAA May Ground America West.)

Bankruptcy

America West operated under bankruptcy from 1991 to 1994. As part of their restructuring, employee stock became worthless, the airline's 747s and Dash 8s were sold, and the fleet was heavily pared down to 87 aircraft. Hawaii and Nagoya routes were scrapped and America West feeder service to smaller cities and local markets was contracted to Mesa Airlines, which began conducting operations as America West Express utilizing regional jet and turboprop aircraft.

On the management side, Founder Ed Beauvais was removed as CEO, remaining on the board of directors, and was replaced with Mike Conway, who had been with the airline since the start. Conway left the airline in 1994, replaced as CEO by A. Maurice Myers.

America West's flight attendants unionized in 1993, ending cross-utilization between customer service agents, flight attendants, and ground agents. Several maintenance and training functions previously operated in-house by America West were outsourced during the bankruptcy.

Reorganization

In 1994, America West was finally able to secure a reorganization allowing them to come out of bankruptcy, with a large portion of the airline owned by a partnership including Mesa Airlines and Continental Airlines, resulting in respective code sharing agreements with these airlines.

To help reinvigorate the airline as they emerged from bankruptcy, a number of consumer-visible changes occurred, including a new color scheme and logo (used until the merger with US Airways), new livery, E-tickets, and online ticket purchasing in 1996. The airline continued ordering Airbus A320 aircraft and began gradually retiring their older Boeing 737-200s.

In the 1990s, America West opened an east coast hub at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, using Chautauqua Airlines and Mesa Airlines to provide commuter and regional flights via respective code sharing agreements in addition to mainline jet service. An America West Club was located at the hub in an area previously used for a TWA Ambassadors' Club.

In late 2001, America West was the first airline to apply for and receive a loan from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board. As of April 2005, the remaining balance on the loan was $300 million. The ATSB loan and its guarantees were paid back by US Airways and the debt refinanced by other lenders during the merger.

In 2003, America West Airlines closed its Port Columbus hub, reducing the number of scheduled daily flights from almost 50 to 4.

US Airways

In the second quarter of 2005, America West entered into merger negotiations with then-bankrupt US Airways. It was structured as a purchase of US Airways by America West Holdings Corporation; however, the internal structure was a reverse merger, with legacy US Airways operations taken over by those of America West.

As the holding companies merged, brand conversion began. The America West Club was renamed the US Airways Club in October 2005. All new America West aircraft were delivered in the new US Airways livery, and older aircraft repainted (while retaining America West interiors). Gates and ticket counters were consolidated at airports where both airlines had operated, aided by the March 2007 transfer of all US Airways reservations to the Shares computer system used by America West (US Airways had previously used a very different Sabre system).

All express flights were branded as US Airways Express, and aircraft were no longer confined to operations out of their pre-merger hubs (America West aircraft could fly from Philadelphia to destinations other than Phoenix and Las Vegas, for example). The two airlines' operating certificates were merged in September 2007. After initially using the "CACTUS" callsign for the west fleet and "USAIR" for the east fleet, all aircraft began flying under a single "CACTUS" callsign and ICAO code "AWE" in September 2008. Former America West aircraft were distinguished apart from US Airways pre-merger aircraft by their use of registrations ending in "-AW", while pre-merger US Airways aircraft used registrations ending in "-US". US Airways would later merge with American Airlines in 2013, with the former America West callsign and ICAO code retired in 2015 (alongside with the US Airways brand).

Fleet

All outstanding America West aircraft orders were transferred to the merged entity, US Airways.

Aircraft counts accurate as of December 2006, according to FAA records.

America West Express aircraft

America West Express services primarily operated by Mesa Airlines via a code sharing agreement with America West utilized the following regional jet and turboprop aircraft:

Chautauqua Airlines operated Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft on America West Express services via a code sharing agreement as well.

FlightFund

The airline had a frequent flyer program called FlightFund. In 2006, FlightFund was merged into the US Airways Dividend Miles program.

Partner airlines or programs for Dividend Miles (formerly FlightFund) include:

Codeshare agreements

America West had codeshare agreements with the following airlines in January 2007:

Former codeshare agreements

Headquarters

America West had its headquarters in Tempe, Arizona from the airline's start in 1983, and it retained the same location when it merged with US Airways and retained the US Airways name. The airline used the nine-story 225,000 square feet (20,900 m²) building as its headquarters once the American West and US Airways merged, but the building has since been vacated when US Airways' management team took over American Airlines in an acquisition. Jahna Berry of the Arizona Business Gazette said in 2005 that the building "is one of the dominant buildings in downtown Tempe." The City of Tempe gave America West $11 million in incentives and tax breaks so it could occupy the headquarters, which cost $37 million to construct. The construction of the building began in January 1998; the groundbreaking ceremony was held on February 19 of that year. The previous America West headquarters were demolished.

Other commercial interests

America West had promotional partnerships with the Phoenix Suns NBA team, the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, and the Arizona Cardinals NFL team.

In 1992, America West paid $26 million for the 30-year naming rights of the Phoenix Suns' home court, which it named America West Arena. Since the merger with US Airways, the arena was called US Airways Center (not to be confused with the USAir Arena in Prince George's County, Maryland, razed in 2002), until it was renamed to Talking Stick Resort arena.

Accidents and incidents

America West had four in-flight incidents on its aircraft, but never had an accident resulting in a fatality. Two accidents resulted in hull loss write-offs.