US Airways cuts back in Pittsburgh again

US Airways, which has been periodically shrinking its Pittsburgh operations for the past couple of years – demoting PIT from hub status to “focus city” – will slash service there again in January 2008. “Our ability to operate profitably from Pittsburgh has been sharply eroded over the past few years, and the hub lost more than $40 million over the past 12 months alone,” said CEO Doug Parker. In January, US Airways said, it will discontinue mainline service from Pittsburgh to Denver, Erie, Norfolk and Toronto.

And the airline said it anticipates that its regional affiliates will drop a number of non-stop PIT routes as well – although that won’t be definite until they release their own schedules. Nonetheless, US Airways said it expects its Express partners will eliminate eservice from Pittsburgh to Washington Dulles, Syracuse, Louisville, Nashville and Charleston, W. Va. In addition, it predicted regional partners would also end flights from Pittsburgh to the Pennsylvania cities of Bradford, DuBois, Franklin and Johnstown; the West Virginia towns of Clarksburg, Lewisburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg; and Jamestown, N.Y.

US Airways will also cut back frequencies to some cities it will continue to serve – e.g., Hartford, from four flights a day to three; Washington National from eight to six; Raleigh/Durham from four to three; Richmond from four to two; and St. Louis from four to three. At the same time, it expects to increase frequencies between Pittsburgh-LaGuardia and PIT-Charlotte from six a day to eight.