Pittsburgh: US Airways must give flight, job assurances for aid IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) =97 If US Airways wants hundreds of millions of dollars= in=20 rent relief and airport improvements in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, it=20 will have to commit to maintaining a certain number of flights and jobs at= =20 Pittsburgh International Airport, Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey=20 said. Roddey made the comments during Friday's taping of KD/PG Sunday, a=20 public affairs show in Pittsburgh aired on KDKA-TV, which produces the show= =20 in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Gov. Ed Rendell and regional leaders want the job and flight assurances as= =20 proof of US Airways' commitment to the area. The state's proposal will be=20 delivered to US Airways officials on Wednesday at a meeting brokered by=20 U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "It will be a test for US Airways, whether=20 or not they really have any intention at all of staying here because we're= =20 going to give them an incentive to do that," Roddey said, referring to the= =20 Pittsburgh airport. "If they walk away from that, then probably we will=20 learn that they probably had no intention of staying here." Roddey said=20 Pennsylvania officials want US Airways to commit to keeping nearly all of=20 its current jobs in Pittsburgh, and to increase its daily flights from 400= =20 now to about 500 in exchange for concessions the airline wants at both=20 airports. About half of US Airways 29,000 employees are based in Pennsylvania,=20 including nearly 9,000 near Pittsburgh. The airline has said it wants to=20 drastically cut its $62 million in yearly costs at Pittsburgh International= =20 =97 about $50 million of which is debt payments on the 11-year-old airport.= =20 It also wants $140 million in rent relief at Philadelphia International=20 Airport over the next five years and about $250 million in improvements to= =20 both airports. US Airways is expected to remain a major player in=20 Philadelphia, but it could drastically cut service or pull out of=20 Pittsburgh altogether if it doesn't get the concessions. The airline=20 canceled its leases at the Pittsburgh airport shortly before emerging from= =20 Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, but kept its Philadelphia leases. US Airways spokesman David Castelveter would not say whether the airline=20 would consider making the commitments Roddey and state officials are=20 seeking. Roddey did not say how officials planned to cut the airport's=20 remaining $673 million debt =97 or US Airways' share of paying for it. US=20 Airways chief executive officer David Siegel has said the debt needs to be= =20 cut by about $500 million for the airline's Pittsburgh costs to drop to=20 acceptable levels. Michael Boyd, a nationally known aviation consultant=20 from Colorado, said he is not sure that an airline can make the type of=20 commitments Roddey wants, given the industry's uncertainty since the Sept.= =20 11 terrorist attacks. "It's very hard to ask an airline to make a=20 commitment regarding routes, passenger levels and employees," Boyd said.=20 "It's just a tough thing to do." *************************************************** 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/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************