Editing Albany International Airport (section)

== Service history ==
Between 1946 and 1961, American Airlines, TWA and Colonial/Eastern flew to Albany, but nonstop flights did not travel farther than New York City and Buffalo until 1967. Eastern left in 1961 and TWA left in 1965, leaving Mohawk and a few American flights. The first jets were American and Mohawk [[British Aircraft Corporation]] [[BAC One-Eleven]]s in late 1966; concurrently, runway 1/19 was extended south sometime in 1966–67, from {{convert|5,000-6,000|ft|m}}.

Before [[airline deregulation]] in 1978, most flights at Albany were on "trunk carriers" ([[American Airlines]] and [[Eastern Air Lines]]) and "local service carrier" ([[Allegheny Airlines]], which renamed itself [[USAir]] in 1979). After deregulation, many new airlines expanded to Albany. Most did not survive the 1980s.

Airlines at Albany after deregulation include:
* [[Braniff International Airways]], which added Albany as part of an unsuccessful expansion in 1979. Albany was the only Upstate New York city served by the colorful Dallas-based airline that shut down in 1982.
* [[Empire Airlines (1976–1985)|Empire Airlines]], a regional carrier based in Utica, opened a hub at [[Syracuse Hancock International Airport]] after deregulation and operated flights from Albany and other Northeast cities with a fleet of regional jets and turboprops.
* [[Mall Airways]], a commuter carrier, ran a hub at Albany in the 1980s; its small turboprops flew around the Northeast and into Canada.
* [[People Express Airlines (1980s)|People Express Airlines]], a low-cost carrier founded in 1981 with a hub at [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark International Airport]]. People grew quickly into a major carrier, but couldn't maintain it and was purchased by [[Continental Airlines]] in 1986. Continental's [[Continental Express]] and [[Continental Connection]] affiliates served Albany until the merger with United in 2010.
* [[Piedmont Airlines (1948–89)|Piedmont Airlines]], a pre-deregulation local service carrier based in North Carolina, expanded to the Northeast with a hub at [[Baltimore–Washington International Airport]]; they flew to Albany from there. They bought Empire in 1985 and merged them into itself. In 1989 Piedmont was bought by USAir.
* [[Republic Airlines (1979–1986)|Republic Airlines]], an airline formed from the merger of three pre-deregulation local service carriers, began flying from Albany to their Detroit hub in 1984. They were bought by [[Northwest Airlines]] in 1987; [[Delta Air Lines]] bought Northwest in 2008 and took over their operations in 2009.
* TWA ([[Trans World Airlines]]) served Albany briefly around 1979–1981 during a short-lived experiment running a hub in Pittsburgh.
* [[United Airlines]] had long served Rochester and Buffalo, and added Albany and Syracuse in 1982. United and its affiliates serve Albany today.

During 1986–1987, the airline industry saw a series of mergers; after 1989, the US airline industry was dominated by six "legacy carriers": American, United, Delta, Northwest, USAir, and Continental. All six served Albany themselves or by their regional affiliates. During the 1990s, Albany and other Upstate markets enjoyed little low-fare service, and the legacy carriers mostly kept fares high. [[Southwest Airlines]]' entry into Albany in 2000 brought a new era of low fare service.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}