Pittsburgh airport officials court Southwest PITTSBURGH (AP) =97 Pittsburgh International Airport officials met with=20 Southwest Airlines and plan to meet with other carriers that might step in= =20 should US Airways drop Pittsburgh as a hub. The meeting was intended "to=20 bring them up to date on what's transpiring with US Airways and their=20 termination of the leases," said Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for the=20 Allegheny County chief executive. US Airways rejected its lease with the=20 airport just before coming out of bankruptcy and is asking for a large=20 reduction in lease payments and $155 million in capital improvements.=20 Negotiations continue with US Airways, but county officials are in contact= =20 with other airlines that might at least supplement the airline's flights in= =20 and out of Pittsburgh. Southwest has spurned Pittsburgh's overtures in the= =20 past and it appears unlikely the airline would consider flying out of the=20 airport without some significant changes. One of the reasons Southwest has= =20 avoided Pittsburgh International, however, is US Airways' dominance. The=20 airline controls about 70 of the airport's 120 gates. Southwest has been=20 successful by establishing itself in areas that were underserved and=20 overpriced. "Certainly the competitive environment plays a large role in=20 our decision," said Southwest spokeswoman Christine Turneabe-Connelly.=20 Turneabe-Connelly described the recent visit by Allegheny County Airport=20 Authority Executive Director Kent George as a "general presentation." More= =20 than 150 cities court Southwest Airlines each year, Turneabe-Connelly said.= =20 Southwest currently has no plans to add cities to its routes, she said. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************