On June 9, 1953, Allegheny Airlines inaugurated nonstop service from Bradford to Williamsport on Air Mail Route 97.

No cachet was provided for mail carried on the inaugural flight.

This cover was carried on the Air Mail Route 97 flight from Bradford, Pennsylvania to Williamsport, Pennsylvania (where it was backstamped).

Lou Fischbach, a noted air mail historian, prepared the cover.

A Civil Aeronautics Board order, effective June 11, 1979, authorized the corporate title “Allegheny Airlines” to be changed to “USAir, Inc.” The name change reflected the carrier’s geographic expansion and increased airline status.

In early 1997 USAir changed its name to US Airways and introduced a new corporate identity. 

On February 14, 2013, US Airways Group and AMR Corporation announced that the two companies would merge to form the largest airline in the world. The combined airline carries the American Airlines name.