Allegheny DC-9 Livery History (1966-2001)

JJ Skippy

Well-known member
Hello everyone. Here’s a look at the history of Allegheny’s DC-9s, all the way through their operations at USAir, then US Airways, and where the fleet went after. Requested by a fellow member of the forum.

1 - Delivery Vistajet (1966)
Allegheny took delivery of their first DC-9-30 in 1966, wearing the Vistajet livery. Here’s one that had the Vistajet titles:
IMG_8321.jpeg
I like the black nose on this livery above. Later on, the Vistajet titles were removed from under the cockpit. A later rendition of the livery showed updated ALLGEHENY titles which reduced the letter separation and changed the italicized text to normal text, otherwise the livery remains unchanged.
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2 - Red Stripe (1975-1979)
1975 1974, Allegheny took livery of the lengthened Series 50. To my knowledge, none of the Series 50 would wear the earlier Vistajet colors and instead were equipped with this Red Stripe livery. That same year, Allegheny changed their livery to a more simple red and white paint scheme. It looks clean, but I do prefer the earlier Vistajet-era colors.
IMG_8314.jpeg


3 - USAir rebranding (1979)
With the USAir rebranding following Airline Deregulation in the United States, the initial change was only the titles, so it created a “kinda sorta” hybrid for a time. Most of the fleet ended up having this livery.
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4 - USAir (1980-1989)
USAir introduced an updated livery which made the plane bare metal, but kept the red stripe from the later Allegheny days:
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5 - USAir (1989-1997)
Another update came shortly before the 1990s. The red stripe remained in the fuselage, but the tail and USAir titles were updated. USAir kept the DC-9s until 2001 before they were replaced with the more fuel-efficient Airbus A320 family.
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6 - US Airways Shuttle (1997-2001)
Some DC-9s lived to see the updated US Airways name, but they never got the full US Airways livery to my knowledge. This I didn’t even know existed until putting this all together and it’s kind of unique. Now I want someone to make a model of this (Aeroclassics?)
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Here’s one with the added Shuttle titles:
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While most of the DC-9s stayed with US Airways all the way through their retirement in 2001, a handful went to other carriers like Hughes Airwest, Hawaiian, and one to Bonanza and Texas International each. Hopefully you enjoyed this read!
 

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Thank you so much. I love these. Very well done. I do have a couple of things to add, if that's OK. The first DC-9-51 (N920VJ) was delivered on 10/10/75. Also the red stripe scheme was introduced on 5/12/75. The name change to USAir was on 11/28/79. and the bare metal was introduced on 3/12/80. The "blue tail" scheme was introduced on 5/24/89. You are correct, no DC-9's made it into full US Airways paint, only the titles updated as you have documented.
 
Thank you so much. I love these. Very well done. I do have a couple of things to add, if that's OK. The first DC-9-51 (N920VJ) was delivered on 10/10/75. Also the red stripe scheme was introduced on 5/12/75. The name change to USAir was on 11/28/79. and the bare metal was introduced on 3/12/80. The "blue tail" scheme was introduced on 5/24/89. You are correct, no DC-9's made it into full US Airways paint, only the titles updated as you have documented.
Thanks for the additional info. Updated the initial post as needed.
 
Thank you JJ for covering this! Much appreciated. Also, with the Allegheny/USAir red stripe scheme, wasn't there also a change with how many shades of red there were, i.e from 4 to 3, when it went to bare metal?
 
Thank you JJ for covering this! Much appreciated. Also, with the Allegheny/USAir red stripe scheme, wasn't there also a change with how many shades of red there were, i.e from 4 to 3, when it went to bare metal?
I know that the change was made from 4 shades of red to 3, but it was before the name change to USAir...I think it might have been in 1977.. I'll do some digging and see if I can confirm that.
 
I know that the change was made from 4 shades of red to 3, but it was before the name change to USAir...I think it might have been in 1977.. I'll do some digging and see if I can confirm that.
Well, I did some digging, and the 4 shades of red scheme was short-lived. Introduced in May 1975, and I found a photo of DC-9-31 N966VJ taken in June 1976 and it is definitely in 3 shades of red. So it only lasted about 1 year.
 
Thank you for sharing! This was a very well thought out and in-depth analysis. These were some very lovely aircraft, and they had their fair share of cool liveries. :)
 
Well, I did some digging, and the 4 shades of red scheme was short-lived. Introduced in May 1975, and I found a photo of DC-9-31 N966VJ taken in June 1976 and it is definitely in 3 shades of red. So it only lasted about 1 year.
Thanks so much for digging out this info 👏👍 Wow! Would never has guessed it was so short-lived…it’s details like this that make the history interesting (and complicated!). I understand that the shades of ‘rust red’ were used to reflect the steel industry of that State?
 
Thanks so much for digging out this info 👏👍 Wow! Would never has guessed it was so short-lived…it’s details like this that make the history interesting (and complicated!). I understand that the shades of ‘rust red’ were used to reflect the steel industry of that State?
You're welcome. It surprised me that it only lasted about a year. I believe you are correct. Allegheny's main hubs were at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and steel was definitely the dominant industry in Pennsylvania.
 
You're welcome. It surprised me that it only lasted about a year. I believe you are correct. Allegheny's main hubs were at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and steel was definitely the dominant industry in Pennsylvania.
Cheers Purpleplane - and I thought as much. Safe enough to say, that State was the powerhouse of the USA's industrial revolution, and also a key part of the American Revolution. Just a few things that underpin my interest in this airline!
 
Cheers Purpleplane - and I thought as much. Safe enough to say, that State was the powerhouse of the USA's industrial revolution, and also a key part of the American Revolution. Just a few things that underpin my interest in this airline!
Yes, Allegheny/USAir was a very interesting airline.. a lot of history there.
 
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