CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the final time, a plane bearing a U.S. Airways flight number departed the city that was considered its heart for the past decade.
U.S. Airways 1939 was the final plane to leave Charlotte Douglas International Airport Friday before the merger with American Airlines, first announced in 2013, is complete. The number 1939 matched the year All American Aviation began. The company later became U.S. Airways.
Concourse E was transformed into the equivalent of a banquet hall, as the airline celebrated the symbolic moment. A mixture of employees and passengers mingled to mark the occasion.
Capt. Kent Ernsberger, a 30 year veteran of the airline based in Charlotte, bid for the opportunity to pilot the final flight.
"I will try to not let it be emotional, but it will be tough for it not to be emotional," Ernsberger said.
The legacy of U.S. Airways was also evident in the people who boarded flight 1939. Ethan Hellofs, 13, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was surprised by his parents after he begged to go.
"I wanted to be a part of history," Hellofs said.
Despite the flashy goodbye, transition hasn't always been smooth flying in past airline mergers.
However, aviation expert Peter Schwarz told Eyewitness News that American has likely learned from other airlines' mistakes in the past.
"[American has] done it more in phases, so it is not going to be as a dramatic of a change," Schwarz said.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is now American's second-largest hub, dwarfed only by Dallas-Fort Worth.
The merger will be complete Saturday.
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