This has happened before but I always forget to write about it. Apparently, US Airways is a conglomerate or association of some kind of a bunch of little airlines. They all operate now under the US Airways name and all the employees wear US Airways uniforms and all the planes are painted the same, but the small companies still exist. The identification badges for the employees all show their small airline name on them. And the reservation listing and the boarding passes all show the small airline name. And they even say it in their onboard announcements. "US Airways operated by [insert airline name here]."
On the flights from Portland to Dallas, I flew Chautauqua Airlines (doing business as US Airways Express) on the first leg, Piedmont Airlines (what I always flew to and from Roanoke when I went to Hollins) on the second leg, and Republic Airways (doing business as US Airways Express) on the third leg. I've also flown Air Wisconsin as a part of the US Airways system. I wonder how many of them there are and what they all are. I think it's fascinating.
In the CEO's letter in the January magazine, he mentioned one computer system for reservations and something else that made me wonder if the smaller airline identities were going to go away. I'll be curious to watch it over time.
