Citing continued losses, including more than $40 million over the past 12 months alone, US Airways is not only eliminating mainline flights from its former base at Pittsburgh, its regional flights will drop from 77 to 46 daily flights.
“Most of the expected reductions for smaller cities reflect decisions that we expect to be made by independent regional carriers that develop their own plans and schedules,” said US Airways. “These carriers have not finalized their schedules so the overall level of Express flying may change.”
These independent regionals – Trans States, Colgan and Air Midwest – operating as US Airways Expresses – will decide what routes are to be shed. However, flights will be dropped from Charleston, W.Va.; Chicago; Denver; Erie; Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; Norfolk, Va.; and Toronto. The three operate under contract to US Airways and set their own schedules and fares, while code sharing with their major partner. That is a different relationship than the fee-for-departure contracts enjoyed by Mesa, Air Wisconsin and Republic through which US Airways sets schedules and destinations. About half of the expected reductions will be made by regional carriers.
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.
Planning to reduce mainline flying at the airport on January 6 from 31 to 22 daily flights, the airline is concentrating on its most popular routes including larger East and West Coast business markets such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh-Durham, and its hubs in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C. and Phoenix. Non-stop service to Florida will also continue. The airlines said it continues to maximize the financial stability of its Pittsburgh operation.
Once a major hub for the carrier, the reductions are down from 542 flights and over 11,000 employees before 9/11, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which added that there were 221 flights and 5,000 employees, when Parker assumed leadership of the airline in 2005. Analysts cited low-cost carriers as part of the reason for the continuing reductions as PIT. Indeed, origin-and-destination passengers at PIT are up some two million in the past few years as a result of low-cost carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue.
With the reduced schedule, the airline's 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.
"We've 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. "We need to acknowledge the economic realities of today and move forward so that our Pittsburgh service provides a positive contribution to our system as a whole. Even after these flight reductions, US Airways will still fly more flights to more cities from Pittsburgh than any other airline.”
The airline reaffirmed its commitment 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. There will be no pilot or flight attendant furloughs, but the closing of a crew base means pilots and flight attendants who live in Pittsburgh and fly trips that originate there will now bid for schedules that originate in other bases, including Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York LaGuardia, Boston and Washington, D.C. The airline expects that most, if not all, Pittsburgh-based pilots and flight attendants will continue to live in Pittsburgh and commute to these other bases to fly their schedules.
The US Airways mainline ground jobs will be eliminated and those employees will be offered jobs elsewhere throughout US Airways' system. The airline will continue to be a major employer in Pittsburgh with approximately 1,800 jobs remaining in the area as part of the airline's heavy maintenance base, operations control center and remaining airport personnel. Today the airline leases 29 gates and with the new schedule, its gate usage requirements will be lower. US Airways will meet with PIT airport officials in the near future to discuss its current and future space requirements.