Flights Continue to Destinations Customers Fly Most; Operations Control Center; Maintenance Base Remain in Pittsburgh
TEMPE — US Airways (NYSE: LCC) today announced it plans to reduce mainline flying in January from 31 to 22 daily flights, focusing on customers‘ preferred destinations, as the airline continues to maximize the financial stability of its Pittsburgh operation. As part of the new schedule, regional flying to smaller cities is expected to be reduced 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. These carriers have not finalized their schedules so the overall level of Express flying may change.
With the reduced schedule, the airline’s 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.
“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. “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. 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.
“This was a very difficult decision, primarily because of the impact it has on an outstanding group of US Airways and PSA employees. We are committed to ensuring that all affected employees are treated fairly and compassionately. We are offering jobs elsewhere on the US Airways system to all affected ground employees, and those who choose not to accept such a move will be offered severance pay,” Parker said.
The airline reaffirmed its commitment to build a new 600-employee Operations Control Center at Pittsburgh, and the airline will continue to employ 730 mechanics at its heavy maintenance base at the Pittsburgh airport. “US Airways has a proud history in Pittsburgh and will continue to be a major employer in the area,” Parker said.
Customers
Customers will continue to fly to the most popular destinations from Pittsburgh, including larger East and West Coast business markets such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh-Durham, and US Airways hubs in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C. and Phoenix. Non-stop service to Florida will also continue. The expected reductions for smaller cities reflect decisions that we expect to be made by independent regional carriers to reduce flying. About half of the expected reductions will be made by regional carriers that operate as independent franchises. See the attached schedule for a complete list.
Employees
There will be no pilot or flight attendant furloughs as a result of today’s announcement, but the closing of a crew base means pilots and flight attendants who live in Pittsburgh and fly trips that originate in Pittsburgh 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. Approximately 350 employees of US Airways‘ wholly owned subsidiary PSA, which operates as US Airways Express, will also be offered jobs elsewhere in the airline’s system or be placed on furlough.
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.
Facilities
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. The airline will maintain its frequent flyer club, heavy base maintenance operation and operations control center in Pittsburgh. About US Airways
US Airways is the fifth largest domestic airline employing more than 36,000 aviation professionals worldwide. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express operate approximately 3,800 flights per day and serve more than 230 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The new US Airways — the product of a merger between America West and US Airways in September 2005 — is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers our customers 16,000 daily flights to 855 destinations in 155 countries worldwide. This press release and additional information on US Airways can be found at www.usairways.com.
