October 4, 2007
US Airways says its cutting back on flights at its Pittsburgh hub. The airline, which emerged from bankruptcy and merged with America West two years ago, said it will reduce mainline flying in January from 31 to 22 daily flights, focusing on more popular routes.
As part of the new schedule, flights to smaller, regional airports will bear the brunt of the cuts, with 77 daily flights reduced to 46.
The airline said most of the expected reductions for smaller cities will be made by the independent regional carriers affiliated with US Airways.
With the reduced schedule, the airlines Pittsburgh flight crew base will close and approximately 500 pilots and flight attendants will now bid for trips that originate from other domiciles within the US Airways system.
Also with the new schedule, US Airways mainline airport agents and ramp employees will take over customer service and ground-handling duties for 350 US Airways Express employees at wholly owned carrier PSA Airlines, Inc. Those Express employees, along with about 100 US Airways mainline airport employees, will be offered jobs elsewhere throughout the US Airways system.
Weve worked very carefully over the past two years to make the right decisions at Pittsburgh for our customers and the airline as a whole, always mindful of the impact those decisions may have on our employees, said Doug Parker, US Airways chairman and CEO.
Unfortunately our ability to operate profitably from Pittsburgh has been sharply eroded over the past few years and the hub lost more than $40 million over the past 12 months alone," he said. "Even after these flight reductions, US Airways will still fly more flights to more cities from Pittsburgh than any other airline.
The airline said it remains committed to build a new 600-employee Operations Control Center at Pittsburgh, and will continue to employ 730 mechanics at its heavy maintenance base at the Pittsburgh airport.
