PITTSBURGH Officials rebut airline's study

A consultant says his study was based on widely accepted approaches.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A US Airways-sponsored study that said western Pennsylvania could lose 16,800 jobs and $1.8 billion a year if the airline pulls its hub from the Pittsburgh International Airport "drastically overstates" the economic impact on the region -- and unrealistically ignores the financial hit the airline would take in the process, Allegheny County officials said.
"Note also that US Airways has yet to discuss how the draw-down of the Pittsburgh hub would affect US Airways' economic viability," the county wrote in a written rebuttal. "The lack of any discussion of these issues casts further doubt on the very incomplete picture presented by the Campbell-Hill Aviation Group study."
The county rebuttal doesn't offer alternative financial and job figures; it just takes issue with assumptions and methods used by the Alexandria, Va.-based private consulting firm hired by the airline to make the study, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Wednesday.
County Executive Jim Roddey won't say who authored the rebuttal or how it was prepared, his spokeswoman, Margaret Philbin, said Wednesday.
Consultant's response
A principal with the consulting firm defended the study.
"We used an awful lot of Pennsylvania-based data for our analysis. The model is a widely accepted approach and even recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration," Brian Campbell said.
The county's rebuttal says the study is wrong because it weighs spending by connecting passengers -- who never leave the airport -- the same as it does passengers who fly into Pittsburgh and spend money at hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
The study also doesn't consider that low-cost airlines may step in to provide service at the Pittsburgh airport if US Airways leaves, the rebuttal document states.