Well, looks like US Airways got the Piedmont A319 "heritage" jet back in service. Its nice seeing "Piedmont" back in the air again.

Photo Link (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1053664/L/)

Saw it yesterday in the shuttle gates at LGA, looks great. ^

Why was it out of service?

Why was it out of service?

They had to repaint it because the original repaint colors were not Piedmont.

i can't believe they had to repaint it....but now it looks right. nice work.

That's great. Very cool of US to do this.

That's a great photo; I used to love flying on Piedmont. It's great to see the logo again.

I wonder if they're serving hot chocolate and Piedmont Punch on that airplane. :D

I dunno what time that pic was taken on the 29th. Our EMB-170 parked right next to this one just after noon that day at PIT. Perhaps that was before it went off to LGA.... Anyway, it was cool to see, got a nice up-close view. I remember chuckling a bit at the A319 on the tail. I knew that having the plane model there was part of the Piedmont livery, but they sure never had any of these. ;)

EDIT: Hm, the pic says it had just operated CLT-LGA, so maybe more likely it came to PIT after LGA. Looks like it would be morning in the LGA photo, I guess....

It's nice to see that they took the time to correct it. The red titles, including the flag logo, are really cool!

I wonder if they're serving hot chocolate and Piedmont Punch on that airplane. :D

Piedmont Punch was my drink of choice !!

Call me crazy, but I'm here to tell you that they still managed to get the colors wrong on this one. The blue is simply too light (it's almost an electric blue compared to the solid PI blue) -- can't imagine why this wasn't nailed down exactly right....... particularly given the troubles prior to this repaint.

In any case, I also seriously wish they had NOT placed the A-319 moniker on the tail given that this was, of course, originally done on the new Boeings (for which PI was the launch customer for the 734!) as they entered service beginning with the 733s. This was NEVER part of a long term paint scheme and shouldn't appear on the retro-liveries, IMO.

All that said, I'm still pleased that HP/US saw fit to do these 3 aircraft, I just wish they'd sharpened their collective pencils another time or two before painting them. What a shame to have the whole intent marred by mispaints --- who was in charge of this?!?

Here's a 733 (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0468430/M/) which looks like the livery they were imitating. You're right that the blue still looks too light.

i agree, the blue should be darker. I have it as my laptop background though. It's too bad the inside isn't retro too.

IIRC, Piedmont started putting the aircraft type on the tail around 1986 - 1987 - but it was only for the 767-200s and the 737-400s (and maybe the -300s as well). Wasn't part of the standard PI livery, but it was cool. In fact, I recall a 2 page ad PI took out in either Time or SI that boasted about the airline and the new additions to the fleet. The ad had blueprint like drawings of each aircraft, and had the aircraft type on the tail (may have been for just the newest aircraft). It did stick around on the planes delivered after the merger announcement when the PI aircraft showed up in a hybrid livery which would facilitate the changeover to the new US Air livery post-merger (see the Piedmont - Flight of the Pacemaker book for more info).

I look forward to seeing the aircraft soon.

I saw the plane in line for the runway at PHL 2 days ago. She does look mighty fine!

Sighted this morning at DCA. As described - US Airways on the fusilage, and Piedmost A319 on the tail. Man, does this plane bring back fond memories.

edited to add: Turned into a two-fer. As I was leaving DCA on the metro I spotted the Alleghany plane as well.

I saw the PSA retro-Airbus somewhere last week (BOS maybe?) and the color looked really off - almost a neon orange color. Anyone else think it's off?

edited to add: Turned into a two-fer. As I was leaving DCA on the metro I spotted the Alleghany plane as well.


Just saw the Piedmont and Allegheny planes from the metro this morning, too! I think the PI one is the best.



I saw the PSA retro-Airbus somewhere last week (BOS maybe?) and the color looked really off - almost a neon orange color. Anyone else think it's off?


Agreed. Pink is missing from one of the stripes, instead replaced with a reddish color.

The Allegheny and Piedmont schemes were neighbors in Charlotte on Sunday evening

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/the_brain_01/AlleghenyCharlotte.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/the_brain_01/PiedmontCharlotte.jpg