from:
http://enplaned.blogspot.com/2005/11/us-ai...assimilate.html
US Airways: Divide and Assimilate
The new US Airways has this "heritage" logo as part of its new livery (it's next to the door as you enter the aircraft). It's apparently popular among the employees because it acknowledges the heritage of the old US Airways as the amalgamation of (clockwise from the 9 o'clock position): Allegheny, PSA and Piedmont.
There are several interesting things about this, one of which being that over 18 years after the mergers of PSA (May 29, 1987) and Piedmont (Nov 5, 1987) into then US Air, these names still have real resonance within the old US Airways (to be exact, PSA and Piedmont have resonance, Allegheny less so, it appears. There are web sites commemorating the old PSA and Piedmont, but none we've found for Allegheny).
We'd ascribe this partly to the fact that US Airways (and US Air before it, and Allegheny before that) had a rather grey, colorless corporate image compared to vibrant PSA and Piedmont and also partly to the fact that since the 1987 mergers US Air/US Airways has been, on average, quite unsuccessful, meaning that the airline hasn't grown much since then (actually it did grow in the late 90s and then shrank after 9/11).
In consequence, 18 years later US Airways is still loaded with employees who were actually hired by one of the three constituent airlines of the old US Air, and whose last experience with consistent success was pre-1987. For instance, until the merger with America West, the junior-most pilot at US Airways had something like 16 years seniority -- meaning that most pilots at US Airways were actually hired by one of PSA, Piedmont or the old US Air.
But there's another aspect to this. One of the challenges of the US Airways/America West merger is to ensure that the surviving corporate culture is that of America West, given that the old US Airways was so dysfunctional. Unfortunately, the old US Airways is also by far the larger carrier. America West is in danger of being swamped by the old US Airways because in size, US Airways > America West.
Clever then of America West's management (the surviving management) to recast this not as a merger between US Airways and America West but rather Allegheny, PSA, Piedmont and America West -- each of them smaller regional carriers, each of them in its time relatively successful, each of them with a far more positive image than the old US Airways. The dynamic is no longer a much larger dysfunctional US Airways screwing up America West, it's America West linking up with three roughly comparable units.
Which doesn't mean it will work, but we think it's clever nonetheless. Divide and assimilate.
http://enplaned.blogspot.com/2005/11/us-ai...assimilate.html
US Airways: Divide and Assimilate
The new US Airways has this "heritage" logo as part of its new livery (it's next to the door as you enter the aircraft). It's apparently popular among the employees because it acknowledges the heritage of the old US Airways as the amalgamation of (clockwise from the 9 o'clock position): Allegheny, PSA and Piedmont.
There are several interesting things about this, one of which being that over 18 years after the mergers of PSA (May 29, 1987) and Piedmont (Nov 5, 1987) into then US Air, these names still have real resonance within the old US Airways (to be exact, PSA and Piedmont have resonance, Allegheny less so, it appears. There are web sites commemorating the old PSA and Piedmont, but none we've found for Allegheny).
We'd ascribe this partly to the fact that US Airways (and US Air before it, and Allegheny before that) had a rather grey, colorless corporate image compared to vibrant PSA and Piedmont and also partly to the fact that since the 1987 mergers US Air/US Airways has been, on average, quite unsuccessful, meaning that the airline hasn't grown much since then (actually it did grow in the late 90s and then shrank after 9/11).
In consequence, 18 years later US Airways is still loaded with employees who were actually hired by one of the three constituent airlines of the old US Air, and whose last experience with consistent success was pre-1987. For instance, until the merger with America West, the junior-most pilot at US Airways had something like 16 years seniority -- meaning that most pilots at US Airways were actually hired by one of PSA, Piedmont or the old US Air.
But there's another aspect to this. One of the challenges of the US Airways/America West merger is to ensure that the surviving corporate culture is that of America West, given that the old US Airways was so dysfunctional. Unfortunately, the old US Airways is also by far the larger carrier. America West is in danger of being swamped by the old US Airways because in size, US Airways > America West.
Clever then of America West's management (the surviving management) to recast this not as a merger between US Airways and America West but rather Allegheny, PSA, Piedmont and America West -- each of them smaller regional carriers, each of them in its time relatively successful, each of them with a far more positive image than the old US Airways. The dynamic is no longer a much larger dysfunctional US Airways screwing up America West, it's America West linking up with three roughly comparable units.
Which doesn't mean it will work, but we think it's clever nonetheless. Divide and assimilate.
