
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 6, 1994                   TAG: 9407060047
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

USAIR MAY LOSE SALES FROM CRASH

While many skittish passengers will resume flying on USAir after the memory of the weekend's crash fades, any lost ticket sales come at a crucial time in the airline's history.

As other major airlines plod back to profitability, USAir has been losing money, due partially to a fight for passengers along the East Coast that has prompted deep fare cuts.

Airlines typically lose passenger traffic after a major crash. Airline analysts and travel agents say that despite the sound safety record of air travel, people are prone to avoid an airline whose logo they've just seen rumpled and charred on television.

USAir spokesman David Shipley said Tuesday afternoon there hadn't been any noticeable effect on bookings from the crash. Most travel agencies were closed for the holiday weekend and didn't reopen until Tuesday.

``It's tough to say if there is a post-holiday dip,'' Shipley said. ``There's nothing we can point to and say, `Aha, that's because of the accident.' ''

Any fears associated with the crash fade after about a week and, if reservations are affected, they tend to return to normal as passengers once again make decisions based solely on which carrier is cheapest and matches their schedule, analysts said.

Although the disaster in Charlotte, N.C., a major USAir hub, comes at the peak of the summer travel season, the timing may actually work to diminish any financial impact on Arlington, Va.-based USAir.

Many travelers already have made their summer vacation plans. And in cities where USAir is the dominant carrier, anyone wanting to change airlines won't find many choices that fit the rest of their plans, said Louis Marckesano, airline analyst at Roffman Miller Associates in Philadelphia.

Unlike the deliberate bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, which many say led to that airline's demise, the USAir crash will be seen by many as an act of God, Marckesano said. Early theories about the cause of the crash center on stormy weather.

USAir lost $200 million in the first quarter of this year and analysts expect it lost another $75 million in the just-ended second quarter, a period when airlines are supposed to make a profit.

The airline is in the midst of cutting $1 billion a year from its expenses, half of it from labor costs.

by CNB