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.jpg) Piedmont AirlinesERJ 145 operated forAmerican Eagle | |||||||
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| Founded | 1961; 64 years ago (1961) (asHenson Airlines) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations |
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| AOC # | HNAA001A[1] | ||||||
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| Frequent-flyer program | AAdvantage | ||||||
| Alliance | Oneworld (affiliate) | ||||||
| Fleet size | 68 | ||||||
| Destinations | 55+ | ||||||
| Parent company | American Airlines Group | ||||||
| Headquarters | Salisbury Regional Airport,Wicomico County, Maryland, United States | ||||||
| Key people | Eric Morgan (President &CEO) | ||||||
| Founder | Richard A. Henson | ||||||
| Employees | 10,500 (2024) | ||||||
| Website | piedmont-airlines | ||||||
Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (/ˈpiːdmɒnt/PEED-mont) is an Americanregional airline headquartered at theSalisbury Regional Airport inWicomico County, Maryland,[2] near thecity of Salisbury.[3] The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of theAmerican Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group memberAmerican Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used onAmerican Eagle flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by American Airlines. Piedmont also provides ground handling and customer service for airports in the northeastern and westernUnited States.
Piedmont operates a fleet consisting exclusively ofEmbraer ERJ 145 regional jet aircraft. Its main base isPhiladelphia International Airport with an additional hub atCharlotte Douglas International Airport. The company has a team of more than 9,800 employees, operating flights to nearly 50 destinations.
Started in 1961 asHenson Airlines, the airline was rebranded in 1993 to re-use the name of the 1948–1989 airline,Piedmont Airlines, one of the predecessors of today's American Airlines, to protect the trademark.
The airline was formed in 1961 byRichard A. Henson as Henson Aviation, afixed-base operator inHagerstown, Maryland. It began its first scheduled flights toWashington National Airport in 1962 under the Hagerstown Commuter name, later changed to Henson Airlines.[4]Allegheny Airlines (which becameUS Airways, which in turn has now merged withAmerican Airlines) and Henson began one of the world's firstcode sharing arrangements in 1967. Henson re-branded itself as anAllegheny Commuter carrier usingBeechcraft 99 aircraft. It initially developed a route structure serving Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore, while establishing a new headquarters for Allegheny Commuter atSalisbury, Maryland in 1968. In the 1970s, the airline upgraded toShort 330 andde Havilland Canada Dash 7 turboprops.[4]
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 inFlorida. Both were purchased by the USAir Group in 1987 with Piedmont absorbed two years later and Henson's aircraft repainted in USAir Express livery.[5] The 1980s saw rapid growth by the company with the upgrade of its fleet to the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft and fleet expansion. With the growth in capacity, the airline expanded toFlorida, including numerous intrastate routes in Florida, and it opened a maintenance facility inJacksonville.[4]
The Piedmont name was resurrected in 1993, when USAir (the erstwhile Allegheny Airlines that became US Airways) renamed Henson to "Piedmont Airlines", to protect the Piedmont brand name, which could be used by others if not exercised in trade use for a period of time. USAir continued this practice by changing the name of its two other wholly owned regional airline subsidiaries, Jetstream and Suburban Airlines, toPSA Airlines andAllegheny Airlines, respectively (Pacific Southwest Airlines was the name of a California-based airline merged into USAir). In 1997, USAir was renamed US Airways, and Piedmont and Allegheny were likewise re-branded as US Airways Express carriers. US Airways mergedAllegheny Airlines into Piedmont in 2004.
The airline had more than 10,000 employees as of August 2022 and operated nearly 400 daily flights to more than 55 destinations.[6]
As of January 2024[update], Piedmont is currently the exclusive operator atPitt–Greenville Airport,Florence Regional Airport, andWatertown International Airport.
Piedmont Airlines currently flies under theAmerican Eagle brand after a merger ofAmerican Airlines and US Airways in December 2013.
The airline operates maintenance bases inAlbany,Charlotte,Harrisburg,Philadelphia,Richmond,Roanoke andSalisbury.[7] Piedmont has crew bases in Charlotte, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia.[6]
As of June 2025, Piedmont Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[8][9]
| Aircraft | In-service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
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| Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Embraer ERJ 145 | 68 | — | 3 | 47 | 50 | 3 to come from long term storage |
| Embraer E175 | — | 45 | 12 | 64 | 76 | Deliveries start in the beginning of 2028 |
| Total | 68 | 45 | ||||
| Aircraft[4] | Introduction | Retired | Replacement(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft Model 99 | 1967 | 1987 | Short 330 | |
| Bombardier Dash 8-100 | 1993 | 2017 | Embraer ERJ 145 | Last flight was November 29, 2017. |
| Bombardier Dash 8-200 | 1996 | 2004 | ||
| Bombardier Dash 8-300 | 2000 | 2018 | Embraer ERJ 145 | Last flight was July 4, 2018.[10] |
| Bombardier Q200 | 1996 | 2008 | ||
| de Havilland Canada Dash 7 | 1979 | 1997 | Bombardier Dash 8-300 | |
| Short 330 | 1977 | 1989 | Bombardier Dash 8-100 |
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Authority control databases: National |
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