Home >  Local News

Sunday, July 20, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The plight that would befall Pittsburgh if US Airways pulled out has been heavily discussed and dreaded.

	"I think if we show the volume of passenger traffic is here, that could certainly interest another airline," said Gene Lakin, executive director of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)

But if the airline were to eliminate its hub at Pittsburgh International Airport, some of the most profound effects could be felt in the hinterlands, in such places as Du Bois, Clearfield County; Oil City, Venango County; Parkersburg, W.Va.; and Bradford, McKean County.

Broad swaths of Western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia could end up deprived of any form of passenger air service because several airports in those areas offer only US Airways Express flights to Pittsburgh.

"The Parkersburgs of the world, Oil City and places like that are going to be in a world of hurt," said Michael Boyd, a Colorado-based aviation consultant. "If [US Airways drops its Pittsburgh hub], nobody would want to serve their airports."

"It would be devastating to us," said Robert Shaffer, manager of the Du Bois-Jefferson County Airport, which has four daily round trips to Pittsburgh International. "Having the [US Airways Express] service is essential to this area."

The sweating and hand-wringing began in late March, when US Airways canceled its leases at Pittsburgh International, threatening to eliminate the hub there as soon as January.

Gov. Ed Rendell has offered US Airways $263.9 million in cost savings and capital improvements as enticements to stay in Pittsburgh, but the airline has yet to respond.

Naturally, the ramifications of a pullout for Pittsburgh, not for Parkersburg, have caused the most worry.

US Airways dominates Pittsburgh International, providing three-fourths of the flights there, and employs more than 7,500 people in the region.

But, quietly, concern is creasing the brows of airport directors, political leaders and economic-development officials in the mountains to the north, south and east of Pittsburgh.

"Air service is essential in this day and age to be able to retain and attract businesses," said Ronald Kuleck, executive director of the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, based in Ridgway, Elk County. "Without that, we would be stymied."

"The [air link to Pittsburgh] is vitally important to business in rural northwestern Pennsylvania," said Jerri Gent, executive director of the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce, Venango County. "Our area has salesmen just like any other, and they have to get to Pittsburgh to make connections."

So far, though, the uncertain future of the small, Pittsburgh-linked airports has received relatively little attention.

"They've been sort of left out of the mix," said Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, who has been working alongside Rendell in negotiations with US Airways. "Everybody is focused on Pittsburgh.

"We tend to forget that there are [other] airports served by US Airways in Pennsylvania. For many of them, [the loss of the Pittsburgh hub] could be even more dramatic. At least in Pittsburgh, we have an opportunity to have another airline come in and provide some service."

Small airports that rely entirely on US Airways Express service to Pittsburgh include those in Altoona, Bradford, Franklin/Oil City, Du Bois, Latrobe, Johnstown and Morgantown, Clarksburg and Parkersburg, W.Va.

Some are courting other airlines, in case US Airways follows through on its threat to leave Pittsburgh, but none has succeeded.

"I think if we show the volume of passenger traffic is here, that could certainly interest another airline," said Gene Lakin, executive director of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, which has four daily round trips to Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately for airports such as Latrobe's, the volume of passenger traffic is not there. The number of people flying to Pittsburgh from the Westmoreland County airport has dropped to 15,000 a year, about half of the pre-9/11 level.

Such precipitous declines in business are typical at the small airports linked to Pittsburgh. At the Du Bois-Jefferson County Airport, for example, passenger volumes have dropped from as high as 38,000 a year to 11,000, and at Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, from 25,000 to 15,000.

Reasons for the plunge in small-airport passengers are numerous.

The overall decline of the aviation industry has had a major impact, but some of the reasons relate specifically to smaller markets. Nineteen-seat, turbo-prop planes have become unpopular with comfort-conscious consumers and high prices have driven away passengers, too.

On US Airways, a round trip from Johnstown to San Francisco, with a change of planes in Pittsburgh, costs $530. Driving to Pittsburgh and eliminating the Johnstown flight reduces the cost of flying to San Francisco to $227.

Under one plausible scenario, US Airways would maintain some semblance of a hub in Pittsburgh but would eliminate unprofitable service to small airports.

Kelly Fredericks, a member of the governor's Aviation Advisory Committee, fears the end is near for air service at Du Bois, Franklin, Altoona and the like.

"I hope this doesn't happen, but unless federal legislation is changed, I think they're going to lose air service in the next 24 to 48 months, and I think they'll probably lose it for good," said Fredericks, the Erie International Airport director. "As the economics of the industry become tighter and tighter, I think the airlines are going to re-evaluate the smaller markets."

A change in federal legislation that would save such air service does not appear forthcoming. In fact, President Bush has proposed a 60 percent cut in the federal Essential Air Service program, the main source of subsidies for airlines that fly to small airports.

Amid the bleak landscape, optimism flickers in Altoona, which has three daily, government-subsidized flights to Pittsburgh.

If US Airways pulls out of Pittsburgh International, "We would go to the next hub. That could be Dulles [near Washington, D.C.]. That could be Philadelphia," said Chuck Pillar, manager of Altoona-Blair County Airport. "It could be a blessing in disguise for us."

Boyd, the consultant, sees no reason for such optimism, though.

"There are not enough [passengers]," he said. "This dream that someone else would go in there is nuts."

For small airports in Western Pennsylvania, the best hope might lie with Rendell, who could condition his offer to US Airways on the airline maintaining service to all its Pennsylvania destinations.

"The governor has made it clear that as we go through the negotiations [with US Airways], he'll be negotiating on behalf of the entire commonwealth, not just Pittsburgh airport," said Kate Phillips, Rendell's spokeswoman. "He is concerned about all the airports that US Airways serves."

Boyd recommends that Rendell sacrifice the small airports if necessary.

"The real issue is keeping Pittsburgh as a hub," the aviation consultant said. "That should be his first priority."

The West Virginia airports in Morgantown, Clarksburg and Parkersburg find themselves in a particularly precarious position, because they don't have Rendell as their advocate.

"I don't know who we could get to replace US Airways," said Parkersburg Mayor Jimmy Colombo. "It would be a major blow."

US Airways is keeping its intentions a corporate secret.

David Castelveter, the airline's spokesman, declined to comment on concerns that US Airways will abandon the small airports linked to Pittsburgh.

"You're talking about something that is purely speculative,and I'm not going to feed that speculation," Castelveter said. "We're in negotiations to keep the hub in Pittsburgh, and I don't think it would be appropriate to comment."