History

America’s fifth largest carrier US Airways has a chequered history and its starting date is hard to determine exactly. In 2005 America West Airlines essentially took over US Airways but as US Airways had greater brand recognition than the parent airline, America West ditched their name instead. However the airline itself traces its birth to the 1939 founding of All American Aviation, an airmail courier based in Pittsburgh, Ohio. The name changed to All American Airlines when it expanded to passenger services in 1949 and changed its name again to Allegheny Airlines in 1953 and again in 1979 to USAir and yet again to today’s US Airways in 1996. Together with the airlines many name changes came numerous mergers and acquisitions of smaller rivals throughout its history. The airline was the butt of jokes with passengers calling it ‘Agony Airlines’ and ‘Useless Air’. But the airline is credited with pioneering the world’s first code-sharing agreement in 1967 with Henson Airlines, now a subsidiary of US Airways, renamed Piedmont Airlines. The deregulation of America’s aviation industry in 1979 saw the airline expand nationally and in 1992 they launched services to Europe under an agreement with British Airways which ended acrimoniously in 1996 when BA switched partners to American Airlines. The constant changes at US Airways meant the airline had a mixed fleet, numerous subsidiaries and a poor reputation. In 2000 United and US Airlines were working towards a merger but United withdrew two months before 9/11 which incidentally affected US Airways which affected them severly as their largest hub was Washington DC’s Reagan Airport. Loses resulted in the airline entering bankruptcy protection in 2002 and again in 2004. They striped services from the airline and benefits from staff to survive. The airline was rescued by America West and its head office was moved to Tempe Arizona. In 2006 US Airways attempted to buy rival Delta, but failed. In 2012 the airline remains financially stressed while it reorganises routes and seeks to improve its terrible reputation.

On-Board Service

US Airways has the worst reputation for on-board service for any large airline in the US. Staff are low paid and many have been flying for decades and have seen better times. If passengers are lucky staff will do their job, but seldom do anything beyond it. Many flight attendants are deaf to passenger requests which they conveniently ignore. Don’t expect anything from staff and you won’t be disappointed. Flight attendants are dressed in a drab conservative uniform.

Network

US Airways is the America’s ultimate Fly Over Country airline. Its primary focus is to fly Americans from one coast to the other or up and down the east coast. Its services to the middle states is rudimentary or non-existent. US Airways have skipped North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Kentucky, West Virginia and several other ‘minor’ states altogether. Internationally the airline has a reasonable network to the Caribbean and Mexico and cover a few locations elsewhere in Latin America, Canada and Israel. US Airways do have the best services to Europe for any American carrier. They fly to several locations not served by others such as Dublin, Brussels, Manchester and Munich while also having several seasonal services to holiday destinations like Greece and Portugal. US Airways have no services to Asia, Africa or the Pacific.

Price

All of America’s airlines are priced competitively as rivalry is intense. US Airways is generally mid-priced. Seldom do they match or beat jetBlue or Southwest on domestic services, but are usually only a little higher. US Airways do consider themselves a full service carrier but it is difficult to see how they are when they have axed meals on US flights and treat passengers so appallingly. Many services will require a transfer at a hub which is where problems with missed connections can occur. Wherever an airline provides point to point services it is a better choice than a US Airways flight with a transfer. Internationally US Airways generally compete on routes with similarly low service airlines like El Al to Israel or TAM to Brazil, so deciding on price is as good a selection criteria as any. Not all airlines are the same however so simple comparisons on price is not always best. For example passengers can book a flight to Brussels with US Airlines that is likely to be unmemorable while a far better service is available New York to Brussels with excellent Jet Airways.

Catering

Following US Airways first bankruptcy in 2002 the airline axed free meals on domestic US flights in Coach Class. Where the airline provides catering on international legs it is never good. Economy meals are exactly that, Economy. They are small, cheaply made and poorly presented. Their salads will include only the cheapest available ingredients and seldom go beyond lettuce, tomato and cucumber. Premium passenger meals are naturally bigger and better than Economy and also include a nice dessert service, but are served on old fashioned looking crockery. US domestic passengers will need to be on a flight 3.5 hours or more before they are served anything more than nuts and pretzels. Coffee is typically terrible.

Entertainment

The entertainment choices vary with the aircraft and route. Newer long haul aircraft on routes to Europe, Israel and South America are fitted with individual video on demand seat back entertainment units which show a wide selection on current and classic movies and TV shows while older aircraft on these routes together with flights to Hawaii have the drop down TV screens only which play a single movie with volume accessed through headsets. Domestic passengers in Economy have no video entertainment at all. Where video is available headsets will cost Economy passengers $5. The airline also has numerous audio channels. The airlines in-flight magazine which is unimaginatively called US Airways Magazine, is free.

Ground Service and baggage

US Airways provides legendary poor ground service by angry and often argumentative check in agents with highly stressed supervisors. The old proverb ‘the customer is always right’ does not apply to US Airways. Passengers can check in on line but will need to present baggage at the airport. Staff typically look bored and exhausted. Baggage handlers are poorly paid and don’t give a damn about fragile items. Travel Insurance is a definitely good idea for US Airways travel as staff often try to put the blame for lost bags back onto the passenger.

Premium Classes & Lounges

In 2003 US Airways axed First Class to become a two class airline. On International flights Business Class is called Envoy Class while on domestic routes it is called Domestic First Class. Domestic First is actually more comparable to a Business Class and is an insult to the term ‘First Class’. While cuts have been made across the airline they are less noticeable at the front of the plane. Envoy passengers will enjoy their own private pod with lie flat bed while Domestic First passengers have a variety of seat options depending on the aircraft type, but none fully recline. The US Airways Club resembles crowded cafes. There are 19 of them in US airports and premium passengers overseas will use Star Alliance partner airline lounges outside America, which are usually superior.

Economy Class

There is very little difference between US Airways and the cheapest US carriers. They are barely better than the worst of the worst, airTran. However US Airways do claim to be a full service airline but Economy passengers will get little more than a seat, baggage allowance and complementary tea, coffee and water. Hungry passengers will need to open their wallets. Internationally Economy is a slightly better product but better airlines with better service almost always exist. There is absolutely no convincing reason why US Airways can be preferred above another American airline. There Economy product is terrible and should be avoided if at all possible.

Frequent Flyer Programme

US Airways Dividend Miles programme is well developed and as it is fully integrated into Star Alliance, a membership will come in handy anywhere on the planet. Members can earn miles from flights, hotels, car rentals and plenty of other retail services and Americans can also use their membership on United and Hawaiian Airlines. Miles are reasonably easy to redeem but members should not be fooled into thinking they’re getting much for free. Each mile is worth around half a cent so is practically worthless. Passengers should not prefer the airline just to get miles unless they are also saving money too. Non Americans can pick from many far better schemes within Star Alliance and earn points on US Airways flights so have no real incentive to join

Corporate Culture

America’s crowded skies would greatly benefit from one less airline and if US Airways was to vanish very few people would miss it. The airline is poorly run by managers who believe the only way to make a profit is to compel staff to work for Wal-Mart wages and to extract money from passengers for ‘services’ like food and audio headsets. US Airways management team have no clever ideas and struggle to keep up with competition. Under-performing managers typically have a low opinion of their staff who often perform better than them. Staff relations are poor between pilots, flight attendants and ground crew and managers and the corporate culture is to blame for this.

Safety

US Airways maintain their aging fleet to minimal standards; they simply can’t afford to give their planes a Rolls Royce treatment. The airline has had multiple accidents, some caused by weather, some by pilot error and one spectacular one by birds in the engines. Five accidents have caused fatalities. The stressful working conditions that the airline creates for its poorly paid pilots contributes to the poor safety record of the airline, however pilots and crew do perform well in life threatening situations.

US Airways - Rating

A pretty awful airline that should be avoided unless it’s particularly cheap or the schedule matches your needs.

www.usairways.com