Maintaining Competitive Air Service

A competitive business climate requires quality air service to link the Pittsburgh regional economy with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.

The Regional Air Service Partnership, a joint effort of the Conference, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato was created to ensure that the region maintains adequate air service despite the tumult in the aviation industry.

The Partnership’s two goals are to maintain at least twice-daily service to the destinations most critical to businesses in the Pittsburgh region, including resumption of non-stop service to Europe; and lowering the cost of flying into and out of Pittsburgh International Airport.

• Service Levels
• International Service
• Lower Ticket Prices

Service Levels

Since 2004, the Partnership has regularly surveyed businesses in the Pittsburgh region to identify their most critical air service markets in order to focus its efforts most effectively. Preliminary analysis of the 2007 summary indentified 30 U.S. destinations that account for 77 percent of all southwestern Pennsylvania business traffic. Of those cities, only one – San Diego – lacks non-stop service from Pittsburgh International Airport. Several others – most notably Los Angeles and San Francisco – have non-stop service that drops below the goal of two flights per day. Read the analysis summary. If you are interested in taking part in the survey, download a survey form.

Despite US Airways cutting 80% of its flights over the past few years, record numbers of passengers are flying into and out of Pittsburgh International Airport every year. Airlines such as Southwest and JetBlue have entered this market while other carriers such as AirTran, Delta, and Northwest have expanded to fill in the gaps.

International Service

Securing non-stop service to Europe remains a significant challenge. Though Pittsburgh once enjoyed as many as three daily flights to Europe (London, Frankfurt, Paris), most of the passengers on those flights were from other markets who were connecting at Pittsburgh International Airport on the US Airways network. However, US Airways decided in 2004 to concentrate its international service in Philadelphia. The airline does not foresee restarting European service out of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is the largest European-bound market in the eastern United States that lacks non-stop service. More than 300 people on average fly from Pittsburgh International Airport to some European destination every day, enough to support at least one daily flight. The Partnership continues to meet regularly with international airlines, both established carriers and new entrants into the field to advance options for reinstating direct international service for the region.

Lower Ticket Prices

The expansion of low-cost service at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in recent years by JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and Airtran Airways has led to increased competition and significant fare reductions. Where Pittsburgh International Airport was once one of the country’s most expensive, today it is the 16th least expensive of the 100 largest airports.

• From 2006 to 2007, air fares at PIT declined 12.6 percent, the biggest drop at any major airport in the country.

• Between 2001 and 2007, the average domestic air fare at PIT fell 26.4 percent (from $438 to $322) the fourth biggest decline among the country's 100 largest airports.

As a result of these lower air fares, a study by Wilbur Smith Associates estimated that businesses travelers saved $110 million in air fares in 2006.