Early days and certification The airline was incorporated as
Oneida County Aviation, Inc. in late 1974, The airline first flew as a Part 298 carrier, before getting its airline certificate from the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) on October 13, 1979 as Oneida County Aviation, Inc.
dba Empire Airlines. However, the name of the company was by then already Empire Airlines, Inc. as of September 19, 1979 Empire leveraged the deregulation-driven pullout of
Allegheny Airlines from parts of
Upstate New York, like Utica. As of the date of its CAB application (February 22, 1979) Empire's fleet comprised three
Swearingen Metros and three
Piper Navajos. A fourth Metro joined the fleet by the time the certificate was issued, and a fifth arrived shortly thereafter. 58.6% of the company was owned by Paul Quackenbush, his sister and brother-in-law, Peter Hager, a partner at
Goldman Sachs. The presence of a Goldman Sachs partner as a significant shareholder presumably helps explain the success the small airline had in the capital markets. The CAB certified Empire for Utica to
Buffalo,
Washington D.C., and
Boston, and, via Syracuse, to New York,
Newark, NJ and
Hartford, CT. Empire was also approved for Utica to Hartford via
Albany, NY.
Jet transition October 1984 at
New York Kennedy In early 1980, Empire was just one of over a half-dozen turboprop operators in New York State trying to backfill for Allegheny and other bigger carriers in the wake of deregulation. What set Empire apart was that, CAB certification in hand, it immediately ordered two
Fokker F28-4000 jets. The first was put into service on September 15, 1980 between Utica and New York. Empire's
initial public offering of 150,000 shares at $6.50 on May 12, 1980 reinforced its balance sheet. In 1981,
American Airlines dumped short-haul Upstate New York routes like
Buffalo and
Rochester to New York, citing the widespread disruption caused by the
air traffic controller strike of August 1981. This created opened further opportunity for Empire. Empire frequently tapped the capital markets to finance expansion. In December 1981 it raised almost $5mm from the sale of 550,000 shares at $9/share. In January 1983, it raised another $2.9mm from the sale of 650,000 shares at $4.50 and went back to the markets in December of the same year to raise $3.75mm from the sale of 600,000 shares at $6.75.
Cooperation and competition October 1984 at
New York LaGuardia Empire's cooperation with Pan Am, dubbed "Empire Pan Am Express," started December 15, 1982 and initially included through ticketing, including Empire printing boarding passes for Pan Am flights and vice versa, as well as ability to earn miles on Pan Am's frequent flyer program. Code sharing started in 1983, according to Robert Crandall (see above). Quackenbush said that in 1984, 80,000 Empire passengers connected to/from Pan Am, a year in which Empire flew 1.07mm passengers total. Empire's success garnered industry recognition: in early 1985, Empire was awarded
Air Transport World 's "Regional Airline of the Year 1984." Ironically, Piedmont Airlines won "Airline of the Year 1984". Apart from USAir, which despite having withdrawn from some New York State routes remained Empire's main competition, Empire competed against aggressive and much larger deregulation startups such as
People Express (which served routes like Newark to Buffalo and Rochester) and
New York Air (which served Rochester to
LaGuardia Airport). Turboprop competitors included the well-financed
Brockway Air, owned by
Brockway Glass, a substantial Pennsylvania manufacturer. Interestingly, Piedmont signed up Brockway Air to be a Piedmont Commuter in January 1986, shortly before the Empire acquisition closed.
Acquisition in Piedmont livery with Empire titles,
Montreal March 1986, between purchase and integration of Empire into Piedmont Empire made significant changes in the summer of 1985. In July it announced it was moving its headquarters from Utica to Syracuse, driven in significant part by the convenience of collocating with its hub. Empire had 77 departures per day at Syracuse at the time. In August, in conjunction with a decision to purchase two more new F-28s to be delivered by year-end (taking the fleet to 15), Empire announced it was retiring its five Metro turboprops, becoming all jet. and on October 2, Piedmont announced it had an agreement to buy Empire. The acquisition allowed Piedmont to accelerate its expansion into New York State, which started in 1985 with service from Baltimore to Buffalo and Rochester. Other attractions to Piedmont included Empire's presence at key airports such as LaGuardia and
Boston Logan. Further, Piedmont offered $15/share for Empire shares that had been trading at a bid-offer range of $9 to the day before Empire announced it received an offer, so shareholders were well rewarded. Piedmont closed on the purchase on February 1, 1986. After operating as a separate subsidiary for three months, Empire merged into Piedmont on May 1, 1986. The 1985 Piedmont annual report noted that the $42mm transaction cost was less than the price of two 737-300s. ==Legacy==