Allegheny County Chief Executive-elect Dan Onorato hopes to have an interim agreement in place soon to cover US Airways operations at Pittsburgh International Airport beyond Jan. 5 while negotiations continue over efforts to reduce the airport's $673 million in debt.

Onorato said yesterday that no deal has been finalized, but that progress was being made towards an arrangement to cover the airline's operation at the airport until at least Labor Day.

"I think we'll be able to continue negotiations through the fall [on debt relief]," Onorato said. "I'm optimistic. I don't have anything yet but, hopefully, we will have the framework to go forward."

Without a short-term deal, US Airways no longer will be bound by its leases at Pittsburgh International Airport as of Jan. 5. The airline canceled its leases, effective that date, before emerging from bankruptcy in March.

The cancellation would allow US Airways to shut down its Pittsburgh hub as of that date, although it has committed to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum to maintain its current level of service at Pittsburgh until at least Labor Day.

A short-term agreement would govern the airline's operations until then.

"The bottom line is, you've got to deal with Jan. 5. You can't pretend it's not coming," Onorato said.

As part of a short-term agreement, US Airways is exploring the possibility of signing long-term leases for a small number of gates to take advantage of lower fuel prices accorded to carriers with such leases.

Under that arrangement, it would operate the rest of its gates on a temporary basis at costs 20 percent higher than those it leases.

That would allow the airline not only to maintain its flexibility to drop the hub if negotiations fail, but also would keep the pressure on Onorato and Gov. Ed Rendell to find ways to cut airport debt or face the loss of service.

Onorato refused to discuss such options yesterday.

"I don't want to jeopardize the negotiations," he said. "I know my team is working on a lot of different options to move beyond that date."