Discount carrier JetBlue Airways is arriving in Pittsburgh this summer, with six daily flights to Boston and New York starting as low as $64 each way.

The fast-growing, six-year old airline will unveil its plans this morning, ending a four-year, on-and-off courtship with local officials. The first flights will leave Pittsburgh International Airport on June 30, with four a day to JetBlue's home base of New York, where it operates from John F. Kennedy International Airport, and two daily to Boston's Logan Airport.

Both East Coast routes now have little competition and are among the most expensive for Pittsburgh-area passengers.

JetBlue said tickets to JFK will start at $64 one way and go no higher than $129 and flights one way to Boston will start at $74 and go no higher than $139.

JetBlue, an industry darling that was profitable its first five years before losing money in 2005, offers assigned seats and satellite-equipped TVs for all passengers, distinguishing itself from the no-frills approach of discount king Southwest Airlines, which started service from Pittsburgh last year.

The dramatic downsizing of US Airways, which once offered more than 500 flights out of Pittsburgh and now has about 200, created openings for both Southwest and JetBlue.

Southwest, a low-fare pioneer, has been around for more than three decades. JetBlue is more of an upstart, founded in 2000 by industry veteran David Neeleman.

It employs 10,000, but unlike Southwest and US Airways, it has no union workers. A non-union work force allows JetBlue to operate with a much lower cost structure than larger carriers such as US Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines, not to mention the bankrupt Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Lower labor costs, in turn, allow JetBlue to charge cheaper fares and still have a chance at making money -- although even it is suffering from the industry's persistently high fuel prices, a key factor in its $42 million in losses last year.

As it tuns out, the Forest Hills, N.Y.-based airline has been watching Pittsburgh for a number of years but talks with the airport heated up in the last six months, according to spokesman Todd Burke. The draw was a city "that has been plagued with high fares," he said.

The flights out of Pittsburgh will be flown on new Embraer 190 jets, which seat 100 and offer each passenger a choice of 36 TV channels and 100 channels of XM Satellite radio. JetBlue recently took delivery of 10 new Embraers, which are feeding the airline's expansion into new cities.

Today, it also scheduled to announce new service from Jacksonville, Fla., and in coming months, it will begin service from Richmond, Va., Bermuda and Portland, Maine. Pittsburgh will be its 39th city.

Pittsburgh International Airport chief Kent George predicted last May that there was a "very, very strong possibility" of JetBlue's arrival this spring.

For Mr. George, the announcement culminates a courtship that began nearly four years ago, as the airport tried desperately to recruit low-cost alternatives to US Airways, which then had a lock on the local market.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority, headed by Mr. George, stepped up the pressure last fall, after the airline began taking delivery of the new Embraer jets. The airport finally got a firm commitment from JetBlue Tuesday.

"We're elated that they made the decision to come in," Mr. George said. "It provides an additional alternative for the business traveler and the discretionary traveler in the southwestern Pennsylvania region and it does so with lower fares."

The Airport Authority has been trying for some time to stimulate competition on the New York and Boston routes. In fact, US Airways is still the only carrier that flies non-stop to Boston from Pittsburgh.

As part of its deal with JetBlue, the airport authority will provide the airline with reduced landing fees -- half the normal rate -- on four of the six daily flights and a $50,000 allocation to market the service. Mr. George said the incentives are the same as those offered to any airline that provides new service on non-competitive routes.

The authority also is trying to generate more competition on the Washington and Dallas routes. Since the demise of Independence Air earlier this year, walk-up fares for flights to Washington have jumped from about $220 to $700 or $800, Mr. George said.

The landing of another low-cost carrier also could help the Airport Authority's efforts to generate more local traffic, he said. The authority has launched a $370,000 campaign this year to do just that.

"With Boston and New York, it really helps with the competition, and will continue to drive down the cost for the consumer and to increase our [local] traffic," county Chief Executive Dan Onorato said.

"Every time a new airline comes in, it sends a signal across the industry that Pittsburgh is a market they should be in or where they should expand," he added. "It's the best PR we can have."