US Airways Reduces Pittsburgh Service

US Airways this week announced plans to reduce daily flights from Pittsburgh beginning in 2008. On January 6, the carrier will scale back the number of daily flights from 31 to 22. Meanwhile, regional flying to smaller cities is to be reduced from 77 to 46 daily flights. As a result, US Airways flight crew base at the airport will close.

"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," US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker explained. "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."

US Airways said it would still build its planned Operations Control Center at Pittsburgh, which will create jobs for some 600 people. Markets affected by the reduction of flights from Pittsburgh include Charleston, WV and Chicago's O'Hare airport. For a full list of the 27 reduced routes, visit [www.usairways.com]. (JM)