"Pittsburgh airport traffic at lowest level in its history"

Monday, March 17, 2003

Pittsburgh airport traffic at lowest level in its history
The Pittsburgh (PA) Business Journal


Passenger traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport plunged in
January, the Allegheny County Airport Authority said. 

About 1.05 million passengers used the airport last month, according to
the Airport Authority. That was a 20.8 percent drop from January 2002,
and a 21 percent fall-off from December. 

January's passenger count was the lowest in the airport's history. The
facility opened in October 1992. 

Meanwhile, the Airport Authority said cargo traffic also fell 5 percent
in January. 

Airport officials said the declines were due mostly to the restructuring
effort at US Airways, the region's dominant carrier which has been under
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since last August. US Airways has cut
staff and flights as part of its effort to emerge from bankruptcy by the
end of March. 

The general decline in air travel also played a part, according to the
Airport Authority. 

Pittsburgh International was ranked No. 26 out of the top 40 U.S.
airports in terms of passenger traffic last year. In 2001, the airport
was ranked 24th. But the Airport Authority said that of the top 40
domestic airports, only nine had increased passenger traffic in 2002.


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