One of these long time airlines will no longer exist. Which one? US Airways to consolidate Allegheny, Piedmont = = = = Wednesday January 14, 1:45 PM EST = (Updates with expired lease agreements for aircraft, updates stock price)= By John Crawley WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Struggling US Airways Group Inc. (UAIR) sa= id on Wednesday it would consolidate two of its regional carriers in a mo= ve to use aircraft more efficiently and save money. The No. 7 airline said some jobs would be lost in the consolidation by th= e end of March of Allegheny Airlines and Piedmont Airlines, both wholly o= wned subsidiaries in the US Airways Express network. Spokesman David Cast= elveter said US Airways has yet to determine the extent of the job losses= =2E US Airways, trying to preserve cash and reduce costs after emerging from = bankruptcy protection last March, is also mulling whether to sell assets = like its East Coast shuttle to stay viable in the face of mounting compet= ition from low-cost carriers. = "We have an ongoing review of every aspect of our business to find ways t= o operate more efficiently and compete more effectively, and the consolid= ation of these two carriers will optimize the assets of both companies," = said Bruce Ashby, president of US Airways Express. "Turboprop aircraft will still have a role in our network, but it is inef= ficient to have two wholly owned Dash-8 (aircraft) operators with duplica= tive overhead functions for a shrinking part of the company," Ashby said.= Allegheny, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, employs 1,400 people while = Piedmont, operating out of Salisbury, Maryland, has nearly 2,100 workers.= Castelveter said the move to consolidate the two companies had been consi= dered for some time and is based more on plans to phase out its turboprop= fleet rather than on mounting financial pressures, which included a debt= ratings downgrade last week. The airline said that some of Allegheny's aircraft lease agreements are e= xpiring and are not being renewed. Under the transaction, Piedmont will operate the entire de Havilland Dash= -8 turboprop fleet. The two carriers each currently operate 41 of these a= ircraft, but US Airways plans to phase them out to make room for more reg= ional jets. Allegheny serves 30 cities and Piedmont 45. Some of these locations overl= ap. US Airways Express now includes nine carriers operating more than 2,000 f= lights daily. After the Allegheny-Piedmont consolidation, PSA Airlines an= d Piedmont will be the two wholly owned US Airways subsidiaries in the Ex= press family. US Airways was off 20 cents, or 3.77 percent, at $5.10 a share on the Nas= daq in afternoon trading. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS