US Airways transfers flight crews

The closing of a US Airways flight crew base in Pittsburgh will create commuting challenges more daunting for local pilots and flight attendants than traveling Route 28 is for motorists.

Along with cuts to an already dwindling flight schedule, the airline announced Wednesday its remaining 182 pilots and 312 flight attendants based at Pittsburgh International Airport will have to work out of Philadelphia, Charlotte or other airports beginning in January.

Those employees will join 500 US Airways pilots and flight attendants living here who already commute to work elsewhere.

Luke Dees of Robinson, a flight attendant for 20 years and vice president of the Association of Flight Attendants Local 40, said he was stunned by yesterday's announcement.

"I did not see this coming, though there were rumors that something like this would happen. We thought there'd be more flight reductions, but not a base closing," Dees said.

At its peak in 2001, when Pittsburgh was a major connecting hub for US Airways, the airline operated 560 daily flights out of the airport. The latest cuts leave just 68 daily US Airways flights here.

Some local pilots and flight attendants might still staff the remaining Pittsburgh flights. They will bid on jobs at their new bases and will be assigned according to seniority, a company spokeswoman said.

"Right now you have a difficult situation for the employees commuting to Philadelphia and Charlotte, and you're going to make what's already a difficult situation now an almost impalpable situation," said pilot Fred Freshwater, also of Robinson.

Freshwater, former president of the local office of the Air Line Pilots Association, has been taking a weekly commuter flight to Philadelphia since 2005. From there he flies US Airways jets to Europe.

Employees like Freshwater who commute to other cities can get free or steeply discounted seats on their company's airplanes, but space is limited. US Airways has agreements with other carriers to offer unsold seats for free or at nominal cost to pilots or flight attendants.

Doubling the number of commuters will strain the system and make it "very difficult, if not impossible" for everyone to get to work, Freshwater said.

The airline said yesterday it expects "most, if not all" Pittsburgh-based pilots and flight attendants to stay in the area and commute.

"Is it going to be difficult to do• You bet. But that's the reality of the business today, that we have to make some of these tough calls," said company spokeswoman Andrea Rader.

With 29 years of service, Freshwater said he will keep commuting a little while longer.

"I have a year left to go (until retirement), so I'm one of the fortunate ones. Then I can get away from this pandemonium," he said.