The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ Pittsburgh, Once a Showplace Hub, Feels US Airways' Woes September 14, 2004 By JOE SHARKEY In the sprawling US Airways club at the Pittsburgh International Airport early Saturday afternoon, Fox News was blaring from the television, mostly to itself. Except for a reporter and a few employees, the club was empty. So was the long, gleaming terminal, where planes waited at fewer than half a dozen of the more than 100 departure gates. Airline employees said the solitude probably had something to do with the fact that Saturday was the third anniversary of 9/11, but they acknowledged that the Pittsburgh airport had become a shadow of its former self. Before 9/11, US Airways - which accounts for about 80 percent of the flights in Pittsburgh - had more than 500 departures from here daily, including nonstops to Europe. This fall, departures will number about 240. Nick Liparulo, a Westinghouse executive, wandered into the lounge shortly after 2 p.m. He sank into a seat to read the paper. He was headed for a meeting in Madrid. Not long ago, that would have meant boarding a US Air nonstop from Pittsburgh to London, then a hop down to Spain. But now he had to fly first to Philadelphia and wait several hours before continuing to Europe. "This worries me on a couple of levels," said Mr. Liparulo, who flies over 100,000 miles a year on US Air and thus belongs to its highest frequent-flier status level. One worry is the damage US Air's reduced presence is doing to the business climate in Pittsburgh, where more than half a dozen Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters and dozens of international companies have large offices. "It used to be you could fly from here direct to London or Frankfurt," he said. "The other is personal: Pittsburgh is my home, and I travel a lot on business," he said. With US Air now offering far fewer nonstop flights across the board, "I have to start taking two flights to get anywhere, even domestically," he said. US Air has trotted out a lot of excuses for its troubles over recent years. Last year, the chief executive at the time, David Siegel - the one who took his golden parachute this April, a month after swearing to employees that he would not - told analysts that Pittsburgh airport had become "uncompetitive." He meant the fees charged by the airport for each departing flight were too high. Simple arithmetic explains a lot. In 1992, largely on behalf of US Air, its prized major tenant, the Allegheny County airport authority took on about $650 million in debt for a 2.1-million-square-foot terminal that resembled a shopping mall. The terminal, with its Air Mall of more than 100 stores, became the model for modern domestic airports. Many frequent fliers regard Pittsburgh International as among the best in the world. Some people fault Pittsburgh for putting all of its eggs in one basket with US Air, but in 1992, with good times starting to roll in air travel, no one could have foreseen the wreckage of today's domestic airline industry. The current debacle has major implications for a viable air transportation system in the United States, where an increasing number of small and even midsize cities are losing air service as big hub-based airlines shrink or teeter at the edge of liquidation. Conventional wisdom in the industry says that the disappearance of a US Air would at least cause a much-needed reduction in domestic overcapacity and create a more efficient system. Don't count on it, says Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an aviation forecasting and consulting group. Instead, cutthroat competition will grow only fiercer on desirable routes. Small markets would lose even more if US Air disappeared. "We did a down-and-dirty study on what would happen,'' Mr. Boyd said, "and in all the major markets where the real competition is, where all the passengers are and where US Air is now a big player, someone else would come in and fill that capacity within seconds." North-south routes, including those to Florida, would become more intensely competitive, with continued downward pressure on fares as surviving airlines continue their death struggle for market share, he said. "If US Air goes to airline heaven, the real hit will be on smaller airports that are dependent on connections to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or Charlotte as their gateways" to the rest of the country, he said. Charlotte, N.C., is now US Air's largest hub. On Sunday, I flew on US Air from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia just as the airline was skulking again into bankruptcy court. US Air accounts for about 70 percent of the flights in Philadelphia, where air fares have traditionally been among the highest in the country, a condition that has long angered local corporate travel buyers. (The same is said of Charlotte, by the way). Last May, sensing real opportunity, Southwest Airlines barged into Philadelphia with low fares. US Air's panicked reaction was to introduce sharply reduced Go Fares - but only on routes where Southwest competes. That failed to greatly impress Kevin Mitchell, a longtime US Air critic who is the president of the Business Travel Coalition, an advocacy group based near Philadelphia. Mr. Mitchell said US Air was going to see increasing trouble in Philadelphia as discount carriers increased the pressure. "They're in an unsustainable situation here," he said. "As you ride around Philadelphia you see billboards advertising their Go Fares. But of course those fares only apply on routes where they compete with Southwest or Frontier or Air Tran. Everywhere else, you still pay the Gotcha Fare, like $600 to Pittsburgh." Mr. Mitchell said he had no faith in the ability of US Air's management to turn things around. "You could take the management of US Airways and put them in Dallas at Southwest Airlines for two years, and they'd wreck Southwest," he said. On the Road appears each Tuesday. E-mail: jsharkey@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/business/14road.html?ex=1096170690&ei=1&en=5cabafa99c8df945 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company