US Airways reduces international and domestic services

US Airways announced today temporary changes to both its transatlantic and domestic schedules citing the the impact of the ongoing war in Iraq as the reason.

Transatlantic changes, effective April 1-30, 2003, will affect US Airways European operations to and from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Service between Pittsburgh and London (Gatwick) will be suspended for the month of April. In addition, Eastbound service between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, will not operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and westbound service will not operate on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Eastbound Philadelphia-Amsterdam service will not operate on Tuesdays, and westbound service will not operate on Wednesdays.

Domestic schedule changes will be effective April 2 through May 3, 2003, and will affect mostly evening flights departing from Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, the last bank of flights departing Charlotte will not operate. On those days, the last flights of the day will depart Charlotte between 7 p.m., and 8 p.m., Eastern time.

The last two banks of departing flights from Pittsburgh will not operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between April 2 and May 3, 2003. On those two days of the week, the last departing flights out of Pittsburgh will depart by 6 p.m., Eastern time.

US Airways has suggested to customers that they should contact their booking agent to determine if the schedule adjustments have affected their itinerary.

"Because of the war in Iraq, we have adjusted our operation in a way that limits the impact to our customers, as the schedule changes have been made to off-peak travel days on which we have traditionally lower demand," said B. Ben Baldanza, US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning. "These schedule changes constitute a less than 5 percent reduction in available seat miles, or a 4 percent reduction in total departures.

"In the period since September 11, we have reduced our capacity by 28 percent, so we now need to make only minor adjustments to our schedule. We will continue to watch closely demand trends and respond as appropriate."

Separately, US Airways Express will discontinue all service in Kalamazoo, Mich., and Madison, Wis., effective April 5, 2003. US Airways Express will also close its station in Baton Rouge, La., effective May 4, 2003. US Airways Express employees in these locations will be offered positions at other stations in the US Airways Express system.