US Airways to cut 135 daily flights at Pittsburgh

[ivauir]

Just posting the news folks; the next sad chapter.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-07-20-pittsburgh-cuts_x.htm

US Airways to cut 135 daily flights at Pittsburgh
NEW YORK (Reuters) — US Airways plans to slash service by some 135 daily flights at Pittsburgh International Airport in November, downgrading the city from a "hub" to a "focus city," airport officials said Tuesday.
In a statement issued earlier Tuesday, the struggling No. 7 U.S. airline said it planned to keep about 240 daily non-stop departures from Pittsburgh to about 65 markets. That would be a steep cut from its current roster of around 375 daily flights.

A spokesman for US Airways was not immediately available to comment on the planned reduction in flights.

In its statement, US Airways said it met with Pittsburgh-area officials Tuesday to discuss the reduced schedule, which takes effect on Nov. 4.

"This is the first time US Airways has notified Pittsburgh exactly what their plans were in November," said Joanne Jenny, a spokeswoman for Allegheny County Airport, which runs Pittsburgh's airport. "They were saying they were going to reduce from a hub to a focus city."

After a bruising series of talks, Pittsburgh airport and US Airways agreed in January that the carrier would only lease 10 gates on a long-term basis, down from the 50 gates it had previously leased on that basis.

The carrier, which had dominated the airport with 80% of all flights, was then free to slash service at Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh officials were eager to avoid cutbacks that would hurt the local job market. US Airways employs just under 7,000 people in the Pittsburgh area. That is a big drop from the 11,000 workers it had before it started cutting service.

US Airways, based in Arlington, Virginia, last month cut fares on some major routes to fend off stiff competition from from low-cost rivals Southwest Airlines in Philadelphia and the recently introduced Independence Air in Washington.

But Standard & Poor's in early May cut US Airways' rating to "CCC+" from "B-", adding its outlook was negative.

The below-investment grade rating reflected the company's need to reduce labor costs, though workers already took pay cuts in both 2002 and 2003, the credit agency said.

"Failure to conclude those negotiations successfully over the next several quarters could force US Airways to undertake significant asset sales and/or file for bankruptcy a second time," Standard & Poor's warned.

US Airways exited bankruptcy 15 months ago.

US Airways Chief Executive Bruce Lakefield said last week that the carrier was the "most vulnerable" among its troubled peers and that he could not preserve any jobs with certainty given the airline's high costs.


Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited.

 

[Lear70]

Old news for U employees. The bid came out putting another 1,000 on the street about two months ago. It would have put my dad back in the F/O seat so he said "fu*k it" and retired early, just started flying a corporate Lear again making about the same money between that and what's left of his pension that he would have as an F/O and he's home every night now.

Still I agree, a very sad chapter for U employees who have put so much into their airline for so long, just to have the MEC negotiate everything away without ensuring management and other labor concessions equally, then to have management make things even worse. *sigh*