US Airways Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lakefield told Pennsylvania legislators in Washington, D.C., yesterday that he wants to retain the airline's 1,700 maintenance jobs in the Pittsburgh area, a commitment that could lead to a new facility near Pittsburgh International Airport and a request for state aid to build it.

Lakefield, meeting privately with U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair and other legislators, stressed that his Arlington, Va.-based company was still struggling for survival and could end up back in bankruptcy this fall.

He said that if the airline can negotiate $800 million in union concessions this summer, it will be able to make improvements to the maintenance it performs on planes at Pittsburgh International Airport, preserving the jobs of local mechanics.

One idea Lakefield mentioned yesterday was to create a facility that would do repairs for US Airways and other airlines as well. In 2002, former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey lobbied Harrisburg for help with a proposed $115 million jet maintenance center that would have been owned by the county and leased to US Airways.

"He would like to maintain maintenance [in the Pittsburgh area]," said U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Venango, who also met with Lakefield yesterday. "But he needs to cut some costs and [US Airways] has to be more productive."

One group that has resisted talk of new concessions is the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers -- the group that repairs US Airways' planes. Lakefield's comments yesterday prompted speculation that the company may be using the talk of a new maintenance center and Pittsburgh-area jobs as a way of enticing the IAM to the bargaining table.

But IAM spokesman Joe Tiberi rejected that thought yesterday, saying that his union has already suggested the company create a third-party jet repair operation. "Nothing [Lakefield] said to a politician or anyone else will persuade us to open up our contract," Tiberi said.

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter, asked to clarify Lakefield's comments, said "the company faces some very critical decisions on how and where its maintenance work will be handled and those are issues we hope to discuss with the IAM if and when they are ready to engage us."

Lakefield's comments yesterday clearly suggested that as US Airways prepares to downgrade Pittsburgh this fall from a hub to a "focus city," the best chance for local and state officials to retain jobs was in aircraft maintenance

"Even if they do de-emphasize Pittsburgh as a hub, the jobs can stay here," said Frank Schifano, the president of the local IAM.

The airline is expected to cut some positions in the fall or next year as it pulls flights from Pittsburgh and shifts more flying to the East Coast. Local employment, now at 8,000, could drop to as low as 2,500, according to some estimates, if the airline survives but shifts most of its non-flight work elsewhere.

Maintenance work provides the largest chunk of US Airways' Pittsburgh-area workforce. (The next largest group is the 1,200-area flight attendants.) US Airways said it employs 1,752 unionized mechanics and 607 unionized ramp workers, along with 760 non-union managers. Lakefield's remarks yesterday referred only to the 1,752 people who repair planes. It is unknown what would happen to the rest of the local IAM workers.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who asked Lakefield for the opportunity to bid to keep maintenance, reservations and other jobs in Pittsburgh during a meeting in May, described Lakefield's intentions as a "good sign."

"I look at that as, hey, if US Airways survives, we have a shot -- no guarantees, just a shot," he said.

Onorato said neither the county nor the Airport Authority has put together a proposal to present to US Airways, noting it was "premature" to do so given that the carrier was still trying to extract more concessions from its labor unions. But he stressed the county also was interested in keeping reservations, ticketing and other US Airways work in Pittsburgh, not just maintenance.

Pittsburgh also has a good chance at keeping the Operations Control Center, located at an office park called RIDC Park West. In fact, US Airways officials have reassured union leaders recently about the 600 jobs at the control center, saying they are safe.

Beyond that, Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George said he was prepared to put together a plan to save maintenance and other jobs.

Kate Philips, Rendell's spokeswoman, said the governor was continuing to work with US Airways on solutions to preserving jobs in Pennsylvania.