The news earlier this month that US Airways would downsize its Pittsburgh operations to something less than hub status did not come as a surprise. Still, it is an unsettling development for anyone using the Pittsburgh International Airport - as well as for the airline's 8,000 employees in the region.

The best that can be hoped for is that a slightly scaled back US Airways presence at Pittsburgh's airport will still provide adequate flight and destination options, while the US Airways pullback might attract new, low-cost airlines to enter the Pittsburgh market.

As US Airways fights for survival against an aggressive push by Southwest Airlines in the Philadelphia market, significant changes will be necessary. New leadership at the airline has, so far, retained the support of the airline pilots union. Support from pilots, as well as other workers' unions, will be critical as US Airways struggles to reduce its cost structure and improve its operating efficiencies to become economically competitive with Southwest and other low-cost carriers.

The Philadelphia strategy of dropping fares to match Southwest's while also simplifying fare structures will be welcome relief to travelers, especially those in southwestern Pennsylvania who have few, non-US Airways options when flying out of the Pittsburgh International Airport.

US Airways officials are probably correct when they characterize this difficult round of restructuring and cost reduction, triggered by Southwest's targeting Philadelphia, as a do-or-die situation. Just this week, the airline announced it would ask its unionized pilots for $300 million in annual cost savings in the form of increased productivity through work rule changes, and also reductions in both compensation and benefits.

The pilots, who are so far speaking in tones of resignation and cooperation, have been in this position before. As the company's highest paid workers, they have had the most to give, and in recent years they have provided the airline with over $550 million in annual cost savings.

Still suffering from the post-9/11 decline in air travel and the lingering impact of a long economic recession, most of the long-established airline companies are struggling. The newer, low-cost companies, including Southwest and Air Tran and Jet Blue, are putting intense pressure on the older, high-cost airlines. As the weakest of the older airline companies, US Airways' ongoing struggles to reduce costs and to avoid a return to Chapter 11 - to simply survive - is being closely watched by industry analysts.

The company's fate will have an impact on other airlines and travelers across the country, especially along the East Coast where it's route structure is strongest. The most profound impact will be felt in and around the company's traditional hub cities of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.