The fate of US Airways remains cloudy as the struggling airline tries to lower operating costs to become more competitive with the newer, low-fare airlines shaking up the industry. US Airways' fortunes are being followed closely in Western Pennsylvania because the struggling airline still employs close to 8,000 people in the region, and because it is the dominate presence at Pittsburgh International Airport.

While hoping for the airline's survival, people in this region who fly might still be wrestling with mixed feelings about US Airways - because of the generally higher fares charged to fly out of Pittsburgh, one of the airline's three hubs along with Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.

As worrisome as the airline's troubles are, the high-fare situation in Pittsburgh appears to be quite predictable, and not unique.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal revealed a pattern of several hub airports, most in second-tier cities, that were rated as overpriced and under-served. The status as a hub airport, where a dominant airline has a near-monopoly of gates and flights, appears to not be coincidental with the existence of higher fares.

The Journal's article found that older, higher-cost airlines seem inclined toward a business model that squeezes higher fares out of the captive audience surrounding the hub airports. Anyone flying out of Pittsburgh who has done some research on ticket prices will find plenty of evidence to support that theory. The result is that people in Western Pennsylvania sometimes drive to Cleveland's airport for cheaper fares - or they just don't fly, either driving or staying home.

By leaving certain markets overpriced and under-served, the soak-the-hub approach -also found in Philadephia, Detroit and Cincinnati - also invites competition. That is just what is happening in Philadelphia, where Southwest Airlines, the pioneer of low-fare airlines, has announced it will begin offering service.

As the sixth-largest metropolitan market, Philadelphia's airport is only the twentieth busiest in terms of local traffic. In other words, it appears to be an obvious opportunity for an airline offering low fares that will attract more flying customers. And that is what Southwest intends to do starting May 9, not doubt to the dismay of US Airways.

Taking a proactive approach to this dilemma, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines recently announced it would simplify its fare structure, and reduce ticket prices. An airline spokesman quoted in the Journal article addressed the planned price cut saying, "We want to be the hero before we're forced to because some low-cost carrier plunked down in our backyard."

That's a sentiment that US Airways officials should be thinking about now that the opportunity to serve unmet demand for flying out of Philadelphia has attracted Southwest's attention.

It might be considered a bold move, but a reduction in fares for flights originating from Pittsburgh could accomplish two things for US Airways - attract more customers, and, therefore more revenue, while at the same time encouraging low-cost competitors to look elsewhere.

While a risk for a financially struggling company, cutting fares might be best thing US Airways could do in Pittsburgh. Only time will tell whether the airline does it voluntarily, or in reaction to low-fare competitors entering the market.

- J.L.W.III