Flight 1939: Through Charlotte, Into History

CHARLOTTE, NC — U.S. Airways has been a mainstay at Charlotte-Douglas, but the airline will be no more after Friday. A more than $17 billion merger with American Airlines will be complete Saturday.

But first, there was one last flight into history.

“I’ll tear up,” said passenger Ganell Dunn. “When this flight takes off, I’ll definitely tear up.”

Bittersweet moments at Charlotte-Douglas, as the last U.S. Airways flight touched down in the Queen City. Flight 1939, named in honor of the year the company was founded, will make a roundtrip from Philadelphia to San Francisco, stopping in Charlotte and Phoenix along the way.

U.S. Airways has merged with American Airlines, and will operate under that name starting Saturday.

“I was on Twitter. So I was just doing a search and I saw it was U.S. Airways’ last flight. So I booked a ticket and was able to get on all four legs,” said passenger Stephen Akwari.

“I’m totally geeked out,” said Dunn. “It’s amazing! It’s wonderful that they’re honoring the legacy of U.S. Airways. It goes back to, you know, to Mohawk Airlines. It goes back to Piedmont, Republic.”

And it’s not only a big deal for the passengers; U.S. Airways employees wanted to be part of history too.

“It was a biddable trip, and I bid this a month and a half ago,” said U.S. Airways pilot Captain Kent Ernsberger. “I had tagged this trip as my first choice, and it was awarded to me.”

Charlotte-based Captain Ernsberger has been with U.S. Airways for 30 years. He’s sad to see the name go, but excited about new opportunities and advantages for customers.

“We’ll serve similar cities that we’re serving, but we’ll be able to connect to many more cities with just one carrier,” said Capt. Ernsberger. “Many more international cities than with U.S. Airways; we didn’t service throughout the world.”

American says it will finish changing the U.S. Airways signage at Charlotte-Douglas by Saturday. It will take until late next year to repaint all of the planes to the new American look.

The two airlines agreed to merge two years ago.