Piedmont Airlines history

Piedmont Airlines began in February 1948 with a flight from Wilmington to Cincinnati on a Douglas DC-3 with founder Thomas H. Davis.

The airline was formed in 1961 by Richard A. Henson as Henson Aviation, a fixed-base operator in Hagerstown, Maryland.

The airline was formed in 1961 by Richard A. Henson as Henson Aviation, a fixed-base operator in Hagerstown, Maryland. It initially developed a route structure serving Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore, while establishing a new headquarters for Allegheny Commuter at Salisbury, Maryland in 1968.

The fleet of Beech 99's grew, and in 1977 the airline purchased four Shorts 3-30 aircraft.

The 1980's were a decade of dramatic growth and change for Henson.

In 1981, Air Transport World named Henson the Regional Airline of the Year.

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.

The regional airline, headquartered in Winston-Salem, would be named “Airline of the Year” in 1984 by Air Transport World.

By the end of 1987, the route structure touched 38 cities in ten states plus the Bahamas.

PACE, Piedmont Airlines, Special Commemorative Issue, December 1988 NC 387.7 P (non-circulating)

At the time of the merger Piedmont had 22,000 employees was the 9th largest carrier in the country. It merged with USAir in 1989.

In 1993, Henson was renamed Piedmont Airlines in order to preserve the Piedmont identity within the USAir Group family.

The most dramatic move came in 1994, when USAir agreed to allow the Express carriers to handle their own flights at six major hubs and stations in the East.

In 1997, USAir itself underwent a name change, becoming US Airways.

US Airways merged Allegheny Airlines into Piedmont in 2004.