To the people working for US Airways, it has to feel like death by a thousand cuts. With the departure of CEO David Siegel early this week, public attention again has been focused on US Airways' need to cut costs.

With operating costs well above all its major competitors, US Airways continues to face wrenching changes - with the ultimate the possibility of failure.

Siegel, 42, was seen as the airline's savior when he became CEO in 2002. He was praised for his honesty and openness and was seen as a breath of fresh air following the embattled tenure of Stephen Wolfe.

The pressure to reduce the company's industry-high costs began under Wolfe, and continued through Siegel's time at the helm. Those cost-cutting pressures will only intensify as new CEO Bruce Lakefield takes over and the company tries to deal with the direct attack from low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines, which initiated service at US Airway's Philadelphia hub this month.

Tracing its birth to the 1940s, what is now US Airways was cobbled together from Allegheny Airlines and with acquisitions including Piedmont Airlines, Lake Central Airlines, PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines) and Mohawk Airlines.

This growth-by-acquisition-or-merger contributed to labor agreements that eventually burdened the company high operating costs. The piecemeal growth pattern also produced a fleet of many different models of airplanes from several different manufacturers, which created costly inefficiencies in maintenance, training and spare parts requirements.

That the airline must reduce its costs to become competitive with Southwest and other low-cost carriers, including Jet Blue and other more recent start-ups, is clear. Siegel described the recent Southwest launch at Philadelphia as a death threat that must be answered.

The facts facing US Airways are clear - and unpleasant. Strictly looking at wages, the airline is not too far above the industry average. But the types of planes flown, the generally shorter flights, and longer turnaround times along with restrictive work rules spelled out in labor contracts have contributed to overall operating costs that are well above those of any other major carrier.

The desperate need to reduce costs is not refuted by unions representing airline workers, which have already given their employer $1 billion in annual cost reductions. Still, that doesn't make the painful concessions necessary for survival any easier on the company's 28,000 employees, including nearly 9,000 in Western Pennsylvania.

In recent years, the airline has made progress in terms of cost reductions from labor and fleet changes including a move toward a dominant manufacturer to reduce training and maintenance expenses as well as the purchase of some smaller, fuel-efficient jets for operation on shorter flights.

Lakefield has said that every avenue for reducing costs must be explored, with special attention on work rules to allow greater flexibility and operating efficiencies. Cooperation from the pilots union, the highest paid of all the organized labor groups working for US Airways, is considered crucial for the airline's survival. For the moment, at least, Lakefield has the backing of the pilots, something Siegel once had, but lost as the company struggled through bankruptcy.

Both as a major employer and as the dominant carrier at Pittsburgh International Airport, US Airways' fate is important to people in this part of Pennsylvania. The airline's demise would not leave an empty airport with no flights taking off or landing. But the loss of US Airways, in any form, would clearly mean fewer flights and fewer destination choices. Ticket prices might slip, but convenience to business and pleasure fliers would also be reduced.

The airline, its new CEO and all its employees have a difficult path ahead. The company is the weakest in a dramatically changing and notoriously cutthroat industry.

There is hope that with new leadership and a shared sense of the seriousness of the threats facing the company will create a unified effort. But viewed even in the best light, US Airways remains turbulent and cloudy.