The last US Airways flight ever took to the skies this morning in Philadelphia for a roundtrip journey to San Francisco and back again: Flight 1939 — named for the airline’s founding year — left 31 minutes late at 10:36 a.m. and will be making scheduled stops in Charlotte, North Carolina, Phoenix and San Francisco before returning to Philly as a red-eye flight on Saturday.

To commemorate US Airways’ last day flying the friendly skies, American is setting up gate-side celebrations at each stop along the way. Passengers on the final leg from San Francisco will toast the old airline’s name with an onboard Champagne toast as well.

“We definitely wanted to give a nod to US Airways and everyone that helped us build this airline,” American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Thomas told USAToday. “We wanted to make it a special experience for employees and customers.”

Tonight at midnight, US Airways’ reservation system will merge with American Airlines, and its website will follow. Airline staff at airports around the country will be taking down US Airways signs and branding after the last flights on Friday, with the goal to have American Airlines signage up in time for Saturday morning’s flights.

This is all part of the final act in the $17.7 billion US Airways/American Airlines merger that was finalized back in 2013. However, it’ll still take some time for US Airways planes to get their new paint jobs, American says, and US Airways flight attendant uniforms will also stick around for a bit until crew members get updated outfits.

US Airways’ final flight closes curtain on another major airline [USAToday]

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