US Airways

Headquarters: Phoenix, AZ

Mailing Address: 4000 E. Sky harbor Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85034

History: US Airways can trace its roots all the way back to 1939 with the founding of All American Aviation Company which brought air mail service to Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. However, the airline was essentially born more recently, with the mergers of Allegheny Airlines with Mohawk Air in 1972 and then the subsequent acquisitions of Pacific Southwest Airlines and Piedmont Airlines in 1987 which lead to the formation of a new airline called US Air. In 1990 the airline added its first international routes and in 1993 British Airways injected $300 Million of capitol into US Air to aid its reorganization. For years, US Airways enjoyed high yields with their domination of short-haul business routes throughout the Eastern US. But the numerous mergers left the company with a bloated cost structure. When stronger competition accompanied the industry downturn starting in 2001, US Airways filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and again in 2004. Facing liquidation in late winter 2005, America West came to the rescue, initiating a merger with the larger carrier that took them out of bankruptcy and created what is today the 5th largest US based airline in terms of revenue.

Major Hubs: Phoenix, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Philadelphia

International Network Strengths: Still predominately a domestic carrier, however US Airways does have some trans-Atlantic service from US gateways as well as service to leisure destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Domestic Network Strengths: Both North-South and East-West routes utilizing their 4 large hubs on both sides of the country. US Airways retains much of the original East Coast network in addition to service throughout the western US of the old America West.

Plane Types:
Mainline
Airbus 319
Airbus 320
Airbus 321
Airbus 330
Boeing 737
Boeing 757
Boeing 767

Regional
Embraer 145
Embraer 170
Embraer 190
Canadair RJ 200/700/900
Beechcraft 1900
Dash - 8 SAAB 340

Club/Lounge: US Airways Club with 16 airport locations.

Web site: usairways.com

Useful phone numbers:
Domestic Reservations: 800-428-4302
International Reservations: 800-622-1015
US Airways Club: 800-828-8522
Customer Relations: 866-523-5333
Dividend Miles Service 800-428-4322

Frequent Flyer Program: Dividend Miles

Earning Currency: Miles. Earn one mile for every flown mile. Also earn miles through numerous Dividend Miles partnerships.

Popular Redemption Award Levels:
Economy Class
25,000 Miles Free domestic US round-trip (50,000 miles for premium availability)
30,000 Miles Free round-trip to Caribbean/Mexico (60,000 miles for premium availability) 35,000 Miles Free round-trip to Hawaii (70,000 miles for premium availability)
50,000 Miles Free round-trip to Europe (100,000 miles for premium availability)

Business/First Class
50,000 Miles Free domestic US round-trip (100,000 miles for premium)
60,000 Miles Free round-trip to Caribbean/Mexico (120,000 miles for premium availability)
70,000 Miles Free round-trip to Hawaii (140,000 miles for premium availability)
80,000 Miles Free round-trip to Europe (160,000 miles for standard availability)

Elite levels:
Silver Preferred 25,000 qualifying miles (or 30 segments) in calendar year
Gold Preferred 50,000 qualifying miles (or 60 segments) in calendar year
Platinum Preferred 75,000 qualifying miles (or 90 segments) in calendar year Chairman’s Preferred 100,000 qualifying miles (or 120 segments) in calendar year

Mileage Expiration Policy: Mileage Plus miles don’t expire as long as member has any mileage accrual or award redemption activity in the program at least once every 18 months.

Co-Branded Credit Card: Bank of America US Airways Dividend Miles Visa or Juniper US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard Consumer Cards Bank of America US Airways Dividend Miles Visa Small Business Card

What’s new?
US Airways now features a unique type of entertainment as part of the in-flight experience via “Cranium Fun”, a 60 minute interactive trivia program offered on most flights.

US Airways finally has service to Hawaii. For the longest time the biggest complaint of both the old US Airways and America West frequent flyers was that you couldn’t redeem your miles to Hawaii on the carrier. That has now changed with US Airways service 4 different Hawaiian Islands non-stop from either Phoenix or Las Vegas. Hooray!

Dividend Miles members can now transfer miles between accounts of friends and family with the Share Miles feature. But this convenience comes at the very steep cost of 3 cents per mile plus a $25 processing fee.

Who Knew?
It was a Berkshire Hathaway investment into US Air in the 1980s that later lead to Warren Buffett's famous quote: "How do you become a millionaire? Make a billion dollars and then buy an airline." Side-note: Mr. Buffett, as usual, made out just fine on his airline investment before divesting.