Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403170163
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Medium
``We will go through every item line by line and do what you would expect a management team to do when financial times are difficult,'' Schofield said in comments reported Tuesday by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Schofield said the Arlington, Va.-based airline, which serves Roanoke Regional Airport, will try to make the cuts in the next two to three years by reviewing labor costs, route structures, airport leasing and airport costs.
His salary - $587,773 in 1992 - would be cut, along with the salaries of other employees and company officers, Schofield said.
Leaders of unions representing pilots, machinists and flight attendants met in Washington, D.C., to review USAir's request for permanent wage reductions and changes in work rule practices.
The union coalition authorized advisers to meet with the airline to review the carrier's finances and structure while trying to preserve wages and other benefits.
USAir, which has a hub and its largest number of employees at Pittsburgh International Airport, expects to lose more than $350 million this year. Its international partner, British Airways, said earlier this month that it would not invest any more money until costs are under control.
The airline's operating budget for 1993 totaled $7.158 billion.
Schofield said USAir would try to increase the average distance of its flights to improve profitability.
Because USAir is primarily a short-haul carrier, its operating costs are higher than those of competitors that fly longer routes. Its average flight is about 500 miles, compared with 800 to 1,000 miles for Delta, American and United airlines.
Schofield said no layoffs are planned in current initiatives. Nonunion employees would not see their paychecks reduced or work rules changed until at least one of the major unions agrees to concessions.
About half of USAir's 46,000 employees are union members.
Some strategies, including a program begun in February to reduce the amount of time some planes are on the ground, have already helped to trim costs, Schofield said.
Schofield said the airline had not anticipated how quickly low-fare, low-cost operators would intrude into its territory.
Low-fare carriers such as Continental Airlines spinoff CALite, Southwest Airlines and other startups have made inroads into USAir's traditional market.
Business and leisure customers are also saying no to high prices.
On Tuesday, the airline announced several new domestic services and boosted the number of daily departures from Pittsburgh International Airport to 355 from 327, beginning May 8. Some of the changes are seasonal.
The moves are designed to make better use of the airline's Pittsburgh hub and to boost its marketability by giving travelers more destinations.
by CNB