Saturday, May 31, 2003
US Airways doesn't feel wanted in its hometown.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- The president and chief executive officer of US Airways said Wednesday the carrier might leave Virginia -- and possibly move to North Carolina, Pennsylvania or Alabama -- if it doesn't start receiving better treatment from Reagan National Airport and Washington-area businesses.
"I am struggling to determine where US Airways fits within the broader fabric of the greater Washington business community," David N. Siegel said in a speech at the Greater Washington Initiative annual meeting.
Siegel pointed to hub cities Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C., and Montgomery, Ala., as possible relocation sites and said that while those cities are "vying" for the airline's attention, "I really don't get that feeling from the Washington community."
Under the Arlington company's restructuring plan that guided it out of bankruptcy in March, Retirement Systems of Alabama became the airline's largest shareholder and gained a controlling stake.
Earlier comments
David Bronner, CEO of the retirement systems and chairman of the airline's board, said in April that the airline had no plans to relocate. Bronner's comments came after Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell said he would ask the airline to move to his state.
But Siegel said neither government nor airport officials have reached out to make US Airways the hometown carrier, and that the airline does not have the special relationship with Reagan National that other air carriers have with their hub airports.
Thomas Morr of the Greater Washington Initiative, a public/private business group, said Siegel's criticisms of the relationship between the airline and airport were valid, but that the heavy federal influence in Washington has always meant that the region's airports operate differently than others across the county.
"It's good that all this is on the table now. It's something that people may not have been aware of," Morr said. "The ideas he put on the table deserve serious thought and I'm sure that there's going to be a response from the business community, because air travel is very important."
Seeking legislation
Siegel urged Congress to pass legislation that would help US Airways offer the same kind of nonstop services other carriers have, and pushed a plan for a regional jet terminal that would help accommodate US Airways' new regional jets.
In addition to the terminal proposal at Reagan National, US Airways is seeking $235 million in government aid for improvements and rent at Philadelphia International Airport, plus $155 million in cost savings from Pittsburgh's airport.
The airline has lost $3.8 billion the past two years and has cut its annual costs by $1.9 billion a year, thanks mostly to wage and benefits concessions from its workers.
Nearly half of the airline's approximately 29,000 employees are based in Pennsylvania. US Airways has 780 employees at its headquarters Arlington.