"Deadline Passes for US Airways on Pittsburgh Hub"

Friday, July 18, 2003

Deadline Passes for US Airways on Hub
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pennsylvania lawmakers and US Airways failed to meet
their Friday deadline to decide whether the nation's seventh-largest airline
will keep its hub at Pittsburgh International Airport.

"I think we're going to have to have some brass-knuckle negotiations to get
it resolved," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Friday.

At issue is a five-year, $263.9 million incentive package that Gov. Ed
Rendell and state leaders offered to persuade US Airways to keep its hub in
Pittsburgh. The plan - a mix of federal, state and local funding - would
upgrade hub terminals, hangars and other facilities, and lower operating
costs in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

But if the airline, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year,
ultimately shuts down its Pittsburgh hub, as it has threatened to do as part
of its restructuring plan, it will not receive any aid for its hub in
Philadelphia.

"We're still in the process of gathering and analyzing information in
preparations for the next round of negotiations," said US Airways spokesman
David Castelveter. "Clearly, it will not be done in the agreed-upon
timeframe."

Castelveter added, "We're not going to put a timeline on it, other than to
say that it's a priority for both us and the state, and we'll work to reach
a solution as soon as possible."

Specter said the negotiations have included "talk" about finding alternative
airlines to service Pennsylvania, including at the Pittsburgh hub.

"My own instinct is, nothing is going to be decided very quickly," Specter
said. "You have a lot of factors in play, a lot of moving parts, a big offer
on the table from the state."

The drop-dead end-date to wrap up the negotiations is January 5, when the
airline is released from its lease at the Pittsburgh airport.

On the Net:

US Airways: http://www.usairways.com/

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