Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
June 1, 2000, Thursday, Final Edition
SECTION: HOWARD EXTRA; Pg. M05
LENGTH: 439 words
HEADLINE:
BWI AIRPORT NOTES
BODY:
Merger Would Change Flight Service
The merger of United Airlines Inc. and US
Airways Inc. could mean big changes at Baltimore-Washington
International Airport. If the $ 11.6 billion deal is approved, United plans to
end nonstop service from BWI to eight cities and increase service to the West
Coast and Chicago.
The eight cities targeted are Cleveland, New Orleans,
Providence, R.I., and Manchester, N.H., along with four Florida destinations:
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. Service to those
locations is operated by US Airways' MetroJet. US Airways began its MetroJet
service two years ago to compete with Southwest Airlines. Because its costs were
still higher than Southwest's, MetroJet lost money trying to match Southwest's
fares to cities such as Providence and Cleveland.
United says that all
but one of those cities are served by other airlines from BWI and that United
also will provide connecting service.
Matthew Triaca, a spokesman for
Chicago-based United, said the airline plans to add one daily flight to Chicago,
San Francisco and Los Angeles and provide new nonstop service to Seattle if the
merger is approved. In addition, Triaca said, US Airways' four nonstop daily
flights from BWI to the West Coast would continue to operate.
"Passengers at BWI are really going to have more access to destinations
not only on the West Coast but all over Europe, Asia and Latin America," he
said.
United has no plans to offer international flights from BWI, but
passengers can connect at United's major hubs, including San Francisco and
Philadelphia, Triaca said.
"Passengers will suddenly have one-stop
service to the world," he said.
Southwest Taking Over Pier
Southwest Airlines will shift most of its operation Wednesday to an
expanded Pier B, where it will operate 10 gates. Two other gates will continue
to operate on Pier C at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Airline officials recently completed a 10-gate expansion of Pier B, and
renovation of the original six gates continues. By 2002, the Dallas-based
airline plans to take over the rest of Pier B. A grand opening celebration,
featuring a baby race down the pier, is planned for July 19.
The
airline, which is the dominant carrier at BWI, now offers 102 nonstop flights a
day at BWI. On July 5, the carrier will begin nonstop service to Austin and
additional service to Indianapolis and Houston.
More flights will be
added Aug. 6 to Nashville, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Indianapolis. Also planned is
a daily direct flight to Sacramento and additional direct service to Los
Angeles.
LOAD-DATE: June 01, 2000
