Agency socks US Airways with increase in airport rent The Allegheny County Airport Authority yesterday increased the rent charged to US Airways, at a time when the airline is threatening to eliminate its Pittsburgh hub because of high costs. Authority and county officials defended the increase as necessary for balancing the budget at Pittsburgh International Airport, which is suffering from a decline in passenger traffic. "The fees are automatic. Either you raise them or you go in the hole," county Chief Executive Jim Roddey said yesterday. The rent increase -- which takes effect July 1 and affects all airlines at the airport -- will cause the cost per passenger at Pittsburgh International to rise from $7.59 to $9.07. That's moving in the wrong direction in the view of US Airways, which is demanding dramatic reductions in per-passenger costs at Pittsburgh. At its hub in Charlotte, N.C., the airline pays $1.30 per passenger. Authority Executive Director Kent George said representatives of US Airways and the other main tenants have accepted the rent increases as a necessary move. The authority based its 2003 budget on a forecast of 9 million passengers. After a dismal first half of the year, authority officials have lowered the forecast to 7.75 million. As a result of the dropoff in traffic, a $2.1 million hole opened in the authority's $138 million budget over the first five months of this year. And the hole would have only grown deeper if the authority board hadn't taken action yesterday, members emphasized. "It's pretty simple math," board Chairman Glenn Mahone said. "There is nothing we can do about it." The authority coupled the rent increases with cost-cutting moves, slashing $2.7 million from the budget. Twenty-five union employees have been laid off. Resignations, retirements and a hiring freeze have eliminated another 17 people from the payroll. And the airport is closing its E concourse to save money. Increases in the rent charged to airlines will add $2 million to the authority's coffers, balancing the budget. Rental income from airlines will increase from the $68.3 million figure in the authority's original budget to $70.3 million in the revised version, or 2.9 percent. US Airways, as the principal tenant, will pay more than $60 million of the $70.3 million. But computed on a per-passenger basis, the rent is going up 19.5 percent. That's because the $70.3 million will be spread among 7.75 million passengers, not the 9 million originally expected.