Airline workers to voice concern
US Airways proposal irks Allegheny pilots
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
BY ELLEN LYON
Of The Patriot-News
Gov. Ed Rendell will meet tomorrow with US Airways CEO David Siegel to discuss the airline's request for $390 million in capital improvements and rent concessions at its hubs at the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia airports.
Allegheny Airlines pilots hope their future also will be part of the discussion, to be held in the
Washington office of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
The pilots claim survival of the Lower Swatara Twp.-based subsidiary of US Airways is
threatened.
Allegheny Airlines employs about 2,200 people, including about 325 pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and office workers in the Harrisburg area. Allegheny pilots fly 37-seat deHavilland Dash 8 turbo-prop planes on more than 380 flights daily to 38 cities in 12 eastern states. "The only thing we know for certain is that US Airways is going to divest itself of all turbo-props, which we fly. There's been no mention of any replacement airplanes for Allegheny," said Richard O'Leary, chairman of the Allegheny Pilots Association master executive council. "We're no where in the plan. They're going to incrementally dissolve the [Allegheny Airlines] company," he charged.
Shortly before emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 31, US Airways set a deadline of Jan. 5, 2004, to re-negotiate or reject its leases at Pittsburgh International Airport. On May 12, the airline announced the purchase of at least 170 new regional jets for a total list price of $4.3 billion. Sixty of the jets will go to PSA Airlines, a US Airways subsidiary in Dayton, Ohio. Another 85 will go to MidAtlantic Airways, a new regional jet division of US Airways that is supposed to begin flying out of Pittsburgh this fall. US Airways hasn't decided where the remaining regional jets will go, but "the company will assign them where it makes the most economic sense," spokesman David Castelveter said yesterday. Allegheny Airlines pilots suggest that US Airways is pitting its third subsidiary, Piedmont Airlines in Salisbury, Md., against Allegheny in a competition for the remaining jets. "The pilots of Allegheny Airlines would like the governor to require US Airways to replace Allegheny's turbo-prop fleet with regional jets" as a condition of any concessions the state makes, O'Leary said.
Rendell spokesman Tom Hickey said Rendell is aware of the Allegheny Airlines situation as a Pennsylvania-based subsidiary of US Airways. "The governor is interested in working with US Airways to discuss their future in Pennsylvania as a whole, meaning not only limited to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia," Hickey said.
ELLEN LYON: 255-8153 or [email protected]
Copyright 2003 PennLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
US Airways proposal irks Allegheny pilots
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
BY ELLEN LYON
Of The Patriot-News
Gov. Ed Rendell will meet tomorrow with US Airways CEO David Siegel to discuss the airline's request for $390 million in capital improvements and rent concessions at its hubs at the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia airports.
Allegheny Airlines pilots hope their future also will be part of the discussion, to be held in the
Washington office of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
The pilots claim survival of the Lower Swatara Twp.-based subsidiary of US Airways is
threatened.
Allegheny Airlines employs about 2,200 people, including about 325 pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and office workers in the Harrisburg area. Allegheny pilots fly 37-seat deHavilland Dash 8 turbo-prop planes on more than 380 flights daily to 38 cities in 12 eastern states. "The only thing we know for certain is that US Airways is going to divest itself of all turbo-props, which we fly. There's been no mention of any replacement airplanes for Allegheny," said Richard O'Leary, chairman of the Allegheny Pilots Association master executive council. "We're no where in the plan. They're going to incrementally dissolve the [Allegheny Airlines] company," he charged.
Shortly before emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 31, US Airways set a deadline of Jan. 5, 2004, to re-negotiate or reject its leases at Pittsburgh International Airport. On May 12, the airline announced the purchase of at least 170 new regional jets for a total list price of $4.3 billion. Sixty of the jets will go to PSA Airlines, a US Airways subsidiary in Dayton, Ohio. Another 85 will go to MidAtlantic Airways, a new regional jet division of US Airways that is supposed to begin flying out of Pittsburgh this fall. US Airways hasn't decided where the remaining regional jets will go, but "the company will assign them where it makes the most economic sense," spokesman David Castelveter said yesterday. Allegheny Airlines pilots suggest that US Airways is pitting its third subsidiary, Piedmont Airlines in Salisbury, Md., against Allegheny in a competition for the remaining jets. "The pilots of Allegheny Airlines would like the governor to require US Airways to replace Allegheny's turbo-prop fleet with regional jets" as a condition of any concessions the state makes, O'Leary said.
Rendell spokesman Tom Hickey said Rendell is aware of the Allegheny Airlines situation as a Pennsylvania-based subsidiary of US Airways. "The governor is interested in working with US Airways to discuss their future in Pennsylvania as a whole, meaning not only limited to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia," Hickey said.
ELLEN LYON: 255-8153 or [email protected]
Copyright 2003 PennLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
