Responding to sharp criticism, US Airways Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker contacted Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators this week to address their concerns about the airline's decision to pull another 40 daily flights in January, eliminate 450 local jobs and shut down its 500-person Pittsburgh pilot and flight attendant crew base.

US Airways' retrenchment also has caught the attention of Southwest Airlines. The CEO of Southwest Airlines said the Dallas-based low-cost carrier probably will add as many as two additional flights a day in Pittsburgh next year. He did not disclose the specific routes.

"It was a surprise to us, too, to see US Airways drop that many flights," said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly during a conference call with reporters.

In his message to Sen. Arlen Specter, Mr. Parker responded to a sharp set of comments made by the five-term Republican last week at a Moon luncheon. Mr. Specter complained to the Airport Area Chamber of Commerce about US Airways' customer service, hinted that he might not help US Airways with political issues in Washington, D.C., as he has in the past, and remarked that the $1 billion Pittsburgh International Airport was built in 1992 to accommodate US Airways "with the understanding that US Airways would reciprocate what we were doing."

"They should have shown this area that kind of consideration."

In his response to Mr. Specter, Mr. Parker offered an apology "if one of my predecessors led you to believe that US Airways would commit to maintaining service levels in Pittsburgh similar to where it was in the 1990s. They should not have done that because this business is far too hard to predict. I know I have never made such a commitment and can't imagine that I ever would."

Mr. Parker joined US Airways in 2005 when he engineered the merger of the old US Airways, based in Arlington, Va., and America West Airlines in Tempe, Ariz. At the time, he reassured Pittsburghers that "we have no intentions of making major changes" in a city already decimated by flight cuts and layoffs since 9/11. But under Mr. Parker, US Airways has cut 3,200 local employees and 153 daily flights, leaving the area with 1,800 workers and 68 daily flights come January. At its height, US Airways employed more than 12,000 people here and operated 542 daily flights, the largest anywhere in its system.

"Please know," Mr. Parker told Mr. Specter in his letter, "we share your disappointment regarding the necessity to make these reductions in Pittsburgh, and most importantly, let me assure you that we are very concerned about the effect these reductions will have on the community and the outstanding employees we have in the Pittsburgh region."

He reminded the senator that US Airways remains committed to the building of a new 600-person Moon operations center and the employment of 730 mechanics near the airport. "Much has changed in the airline business since the early 1990s," he said, citing US Airways' two bankruptcies earlier this decade. "What I am committed to is making US Airways a great airline for our employees and our customers. The routes we are canceling in Pittsburgh have been a major cash drain for US Airways -- we lost approximately $40 million dollars there in the past twelve months. If we choose to ignore economic realities, we will end up in the same financial state US Airways has been in the past, and we are not going to allow that to happen. We will, though, still be the largest carrier in Pittsburgh, serving 18 of the top 20 markets targeted by the Allegheny Conference and we believe we can do that profitably."

Mr. Parker's letter to Sen. Robert Casey was similar in tone but shorter in length. Mr. Casey also expressed concern about the cuts in a joint Oct. 4 letter signed by Mr. Specter. The decision to pen a separate message to Mr. Specter, Mr. Parker explained to the junior Democratic senator, was "due to his public remarks."

During his speech last week, Mr. Specter also noted that he had flown to Pittsburgh via Southwest Airlines, instead of US Airways, according to an account in the Beaver County Times. "Candidly, they're pretty hard to get along with, and I'm glad to see Southwest in the mix in Pittsburgh … they offer better service."

Since the announcement of more US Airways cutbacks, there have been rumors about more than 60 new flights from Southwest. But Mr. Kelly, the Southwest CEO, dismissed that speculation yesterday, saying, "we don't have plans to do anything of that magnitude. I don't think any of us know how large an operation we might operate."

Southwest currently is the No. 2 airline at Pittsburgh International, with 23 daily flights, up from the 10 it started with in 2005. US Airways' January cuts bring the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier down to 68 daily flights.

Southwest, Mr. Kelly added, is planning a "major sales initiative" in Pittsburgh this quarter and "we are very excited about signing up some new accounts and a lot more travelers."

Pittsburgh, he said, "is a high priority for us."

Next year, he said, "I think we will have one or two flights a day I can predict. Whether we can have more than that it is too early to report."