Piedmont Airlines

Piedmont Aviation was incorporated in July 1940 as a general aviation sales and service company, and its airline division was established in 1947 as a local service carrier. The first Piedmont Airlines flight flew on February 20, 1948, between Wilmington, NC, and Cincinnati, OH, with a 21-passenger DC-3, and the total fleet consisted of three DC-3s and less than 100 employees. Piedmont based its operation on providing good customer service in the Southern hospitality style. Its greatest expansion came when the industry was deregulated in 1978, and Piedmont was named Airline of the Year in 1984. Forty years after the first flight, its route structure included 121 airports serving 144 cities, including 2 cities in Canada, 1 in the UK, and 7 destinations in the Bahamas, with over 24,000 employees. In 1989, Piedmont was acquired by USAir.

Virginia · United States