USAIR GROUP, INC.

holding company for the American airline incorporated on March 5, 1937, as All American Aviation, Inc.; the airline was renamed All American Airways, Inc., in 1948, Allegheny Airlines, Inc., in 1953, and USAir, Inc., in 1979. The holding company was established in 1983. Current headquarters are at Arlington, Va., and USAir, Inc., is based at Washington, D.C. Beginning service in 1939 as a mail carrier over the mountainous regions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the company began passenger service in 1949 and expanded in subsequent decades to include a network of routes primarily serving cities and towns located in the northeastern quadrant of the United States, from the Middle West to the Atlantic Coast. In 1968 Allegheny merged with Lake Central Airlines, Inc. (founded 1947 as Turner Airlines and adopting the Lake Central name in 1950), which flew routes radiating from Indianapolis, Ind. In 1972 Allegheny merged with Mohawk Airlines, Inc. (founded 1945 as Robinson Airlines and adopting the Mohawk name in 1952), which flew commuter routes within New York state. In 1987 USAir Group, Inc., bought Pacific Southwest Airlines, which had routes along the southern half of the West Coast. A more important acquisition in the same year was that of Piedmont Aviation, Inc. (founded 1940), a large airline serving the east-central United States and based in Winston-Salem, N.C.