US Airways leaves Pittsburgh with bad image
US Airways continues its crash and burn strategy for Pittsburgh.
And who can blame Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato for being bitter. Recently, the airline revealed that about 1,400 reservation and maintenance-related jobs will be cut in the region.
= 800 reservation clerks in the Greentree call-in center were told they could keep their jobs -- if they move to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the reservation centers will be consolidated in the next few months.
= About 600 mechanics jobs will be lost in the region. The airline will move heavy maintenance of all Boeing jets to Charlotte, and reportedly will close two hangers at the airport and the hydraulic, electric and instrument shops will close.
In a consolation to the machinists, however, US Airways will move all major maintenance of the newer Airbus jets to its Moon facility. That will keep 600 of the current 800 heavy maintenance jobs here, where workers completely overhaul the jets.
There are currently about 1,600 maintenance-related jobs in the region. The carrier has about 281 jets, and a slight majority are Boeing jets.
Onorato was understandably upset about the loss of the reservation center. He and Gov. Ed Rendell bent over backwards in negotiations with the airline in recent months to try to keep those jobs here. They offered a package worth $3.4 million, better than the $1.4 million in incentives offered in North Carolina.
But US Airways now admits Pittsburgh's offer "would have had to be 10 times better" for the jobs to stay here.
Then why even go through the sham of negotiations with county and state officials, as Onorato saidâ¢
US Airways is the poster child for bad public relations.
Airline officials act as if they don't remember how Allegheny County built a beautiful new airport to fit US Airways' specifications as a hub airport. Yes, the airline industry has gone through a transformation, with less emphasis on hubs and the airline had to cut its high labor costs.
But US Airways unions, representing pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers and mechanics, have approved wage concession package after wage concession package to try to help the airline survive in recent years.
It's too bad US Airways officials haven't figured out their arrogance and dishonesty in dealing with state and Pittsburgh area officials is not good for business. They've alienated us, the flying public, the very people who have the power to save them.
-- Tribune-Review News Service
