America West operated under bankruptcy from 1991 to 1994. As part oOn the management side, Founder Ed Beauvais was removed as CEO, remaining on the board of directors, and was replaced with Mike Conway, who had been with the airline since the start. Conway left the airline in 1994, replaced as CEO by A. Maurice Myers.
America West's flight attendants unionized in 1993, ending cross-utilization between customer service agents, flight attendants, and ground agents. Several maintenance and training functions previously operated in-house by America West were outsourced during the bankruptcy.f their restructuring, employee stock became worthless, the airline's 747s and Dash 8s were sold, and the fleet was heavily pared down to 87 aircraft. Hawaii and Nagoya routes were scrapped and America West feeder service to smaller cities and local markets was contracted to Mesa Airlines, which began conducting operations as America West Express utilizing regional jet and turboprop aircraft.
In 1994, America West was finally able to secure a reorganization allowing them to come out of bankruptcy, with a large portion of the airline owned by a partnership including Mesa Airlines and Continental Airlines, resulting in respective code sharing agreements with these airlines.
To help reinvigorate the airline as they emerged from bankruptcy, a number of consumer-visible changes occurred, including a new color scheme and logo (used until the merger with US Airways), new livery, E-tickets, and online ticket purchasing in 1996. The airline continued ordering Airbus A320 aircraft and began gradually retiring their older Boeing 737-200s.
In the 1990s, America West opened an east coast hub at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, using Chautauqua Airlines and Mesa Airlines to provide commuter and regional flights via respective code sharing agreements in addition to mainline jet service. An America West Club was located at the hub in an area previously used for a TWA Ambassadors' Club.