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USA agrees to KPIT extension
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Must have felt threatened by SWA... -ed. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/6964801.htm US Airways agrees to extension at Pittsburgh airport CHARLES SHEEHAN Associated Press PITTSBURGH - The number of US Airways flights in and out of Pittsburgh International Airport will remain largely unchanged, at least until next September, Sen. Rick Santorum said Wednesday. Santorum had been in talks with US Airways Chief Executive David Siegel for the past several days trying to get a commitment to maintain service levels while negotiations with the state continue. The airline rejected its Pittsburgh lease in March, one of its three hubs, shortly before emerging from bankruptcy. Terms of the lease were set to expire on Jan. 4, and until Wednesday it remained unclear if service would be cut early next year. Santorum did not release any details, but suggested that the airline was in the process of making substantial changes to its January flight schedule and beyond. "Mr. Siegel said he had a (schedule) that had been worked out that would not have been a positive thing for this airport had it gone through," Santorum said. Had service been cut to Pittsburgh, negotiations with the state would have been "tainted," Santorum said. In a letter delivered to Santorum's office on Wednesday, Siegel wrote, "If you believe it would help the progress of negotiations with the state and local officials, I will commit to publishing a January schedule that is consistent with the current Pittsburgh schedule of approximately 400 flights per day." US Airways has threatened to drop Pittsburgh as its Mid-Atlantic hub if it doesn't get $864 million in concessions and improvements over the next five years. Santorum said he made a direct plea this week because the airline was drawing up flight schedules for January, when terms of the current contract were to expire. "While progress, I believe, is being made, we're not close to an agreement, and so I believe it was important to give us a little longer window of opportunity," he said. He said, however, that it was crucial that talks move forward quickly. Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, who has been in negotiations with the airline along with Gov. Ed Rendell, applauded the announcement. "The agreement by US Airways to maintain its schedule beyond January is welcome news for the citizens of southwest Pennsylvania and for the US Airways employees," he said. "Hopefully this gesture will give us the opportunity to negotiate a satisfactory settlement. The state has offered $263.9 million to US Airways in federal, state and local funding to upgrade hub terminals, hangars and other facilities, and lower operating costs at both the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia airports. The airline's third hub is in Charlotte, N.C. Pittsburgh, with a $7 per-passenger cost, is the airline's costliest hub, nearly double the $3 per-passenger cost at Charlotte, company officials said. State officials are expected to submit another offer to US Airways within two weeks. BL. - -- Brad Littlejohn | Email: Unix Systems Administrator, | Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! | http://www.sbcglobal.net/~tyketto PGP: 1024D/E319F0BF 6980 AAD6 7329 E9E6 D569 F620 C819 199A E319 F0BF -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/i1jXyBkZmuMZ8L8RAubsAKDIJ9KXQZwbGkLSgxOLe1AiC3W2sw CgrSZc G00If8Qe0oeW4ozb+r+bh74= =DOqS -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
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SWA interested in KPIT | A Guy Called Tyketto | Air travel | 0 | October 14th, 2003 02:58 AM |