US Airways-America West Merger Raises Hub Questions

The merger of US Airways and America West, aimed at creating a national low-fare airline, will debut with some baggage, including an abundance of hubs.

US Airways comes to the table with Charlotte and Philadelphia, and ample flights out of Washington and Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, America West has a main hub in Phoenix and a very busy schedule out of Las Vegas.

That´s probably more than a carrier recreating itself as a low-cost airline can afford, observers said last week. And if the jetliners leave those hub cities, so will the jobs flying and servicing them, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant with R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York.

"Clearly there are going to be some additional reductions in employment," Mann said. "The way it occurs will come from where the airplanes are allocated."

On Thursday, the nation´s seventh and eighth largest carriers agreed to join forces, hoping to save $600 million annually by cutting a total of 59 aircraft, eliminating unprofitable flights and closing US Airways´ headquarters outside of Washington D.C.

On its Web site, America West Holdings Corp. said the new airline will have major hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix, with a secondary hub in Las Vegas. A telephone message left with a US Airways Group Inc. spokesman was not immediately returned.

The economic stress on the airline industry -created in part by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the continued high price of fuel- has killed past plans to keep hubs open after an airline merger.

The name of the new airline may be US Airways, but it will be based in America West´s home of Tempe, Arizona. America West chief executive Doug Parker will continue in that role, and the new America West will have more seats on the company´s board of directors.