Lake Central Airlines
"Colonel" Roscoe Turner, a legendary 1930s air racer and promoter started Turner Airlines in 1949. Turner served Indiana and Ohio and surrounding Midwestern points. Like "Colonel" Sanders, "Colonel" Turner never served in the military. The company became Lake Central Airlines in 1951 and began using DC-3's and later Convair 340's and 580's. Turner was preparing to move into DC-9 jets when it merged with Allegheny in 1968. The airline was based in Indianapolis.
Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines, the legendary and beloved (of intra-California travelers) "PSA," was born out of war surplus pilots and DC-3's in 1949. PSA (an acronym that often was referred to as "Poor Sailor's Airline") flew between major and minor airports in California at very low fares. PSA also offered a minimum-frills, shuttle-like service in the biggest markets. As the airline grew, it moved to larger aircraft (DC-4, DC-6, the L-188 Electra II) and finally to jets (DC-9, MD-80 and Boeing 727). PSA merged with US Airways in 1988. This airline had a colorful history which I will share at another time.
Piedmont
Piedmont, also a postwar start-up, served the mid-Atlantic region and the south from the Carolinas. Piedmont also relied on the DC-3 in the early years. Eventually Piedmont grew into a large jet airline, operating Boeing 737's and 767's and Fokker F28's before it merged with US Airways in 1989.
Piedmont also included the former Empire Airlines, which started business as a local carrier, Oneida County Airlines, in 1975, in upstate New York. Empire was founded in 1978 by Paul Quackenbush. Empire became part of Piedmont in 1986. Ironically, Empire was created to fill a void at Oneida County Airport after Allegheny Airlines (soon to be US Air) vacated service to OCA. The service Allegheny vacated had been the service provided by Mohawk Airlines.
Mergers
The various mergers were not always instantaneous. Sometimes the acquired airline remained operating as an entity before being absorbed later.
In 1987 Pacific Southwest Airlines of San Diego (May) and Piedmont Airlines (November) became wholly-owned subsidiaries of USAir Group in. In 1988 PSA was merged into USAir while the following year (1989) Piedmont was integrated into USAir (at the time the largest merger in airline history).
In 1998 US Airways, Inc. purchased Shuttle, Inc., from a consortium of banks. The Shuttle had flown under the US Airways name since 1992, when US Airways became an investor in the Shuttle with a minority ownership stake. After the buyout it flew as US Airways Shuttle.
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