On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 (AWE1549), an Airbus A320 piloted by Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, made an unpowered emergency water landing in the Hudson River after multiple bird strikes caused both jet engines to fail. All 155 occupants, the passengers and crew, successfully evacuated from the partially submerged airframe as it sank into the river; they were rescued by nearby watercraft. Several occupants suffered injuries, a few of them serious, but only one required hospitalization overnight. The incident came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", and Captain Sullenberger and the crew were hailed as heroes.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200, registered N106US, operating as a US Airways scheduled domestic commercial passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. About three minutes into the flight, at 3:27 p.m. EST, the plane struck a flock of Canada geese during its initial climb out from LaGuardia, just northeast of the George Washington Bridge. The bird strike caused both jet engines to quickly lose power.

US Airways was a major American airline that ceased operations on October 17, 2015 after merging with American Airlines. It operated an extensive international and domestic network, with 193 destinations in 24 countries in North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East. The airline was an affiliate member of Oneworld and utilized a fleet of 343 mainline jet aircraft, as well as 278 regional jet and turbo-prop aircraft operated by contract and subsidiary airlines under the name US Airways Express.

The carrier operated the US Airways Shuttle, a US Airways brand which provided hourly service between Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. As of October 2013, US Airways employed 32,312 people worldwide and operated 3,028 daily flights (1,241 US Airways Mainline, 1,790 US Airways Express) Roughly 60% of US Airways flights were operated by US Airways Express.

In 1979, after passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Allegheny Airlines changed its name to USAir and began seeking to expand its operations. A decade later, it had acquired Piedmont Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines, and was one of the U.S.'s seven remaining transcontinental legacy carriers. In 2005, America West Airlines carried out a reverse merger, acquiring the assets and branding of the larger US Airways while putting the America West leadership team largely in charge of the merged airline.