A long day's journey

08-24-2003

Local air travelers have become spoiled by years of easy access to Europe, but that situation is ending.

Whatever the outcome of ongoing negotiations with US Airways on the future of its hub operations at Pittsburgh International, it is clear that our airport's primary carrier has already decided to erase the International from its nameplate.

On Oct. 31, US Airways ends its daily direct, nonstop service between Pittsburgh and London. The only connection-free, trans-Atlantic option will be a single round-trip flight each day to Frankfurt. US Airways will continue to offer several nonstop flights a day to Montreal and Toronto, and Air Canada still also flies directly to Toronto; these will be the only other "international" options available out of Pittsburgh.

Furthermore, since air travelers from Canada clear U.S. customs and passport control at their departure city, there is no need for special services here to handle that incoming traffic. There will still be incoming foreign freight, but how long will it be before U.S. Customs decides it makes no sense to staff a passenger inspection station for just a single flight each day?

And if recent decisions are any indication, who knows how long US Airways will even continue to operate the Frankfurt flight?

So in the future, anyone wishing to fly from Pittsburgh to Europe or, for that matter, almost anywhere else out of the country, will have to make a connection in another airport. If passengers want to travel on US Airways, that connection will be in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C., or Washington, D.C., while the other major carriers who fly to Pittsburgh will offer connections through their own hub airports, such as New York, Atlanta or Chicago.

Anyone who prefers the convenience of flying nonstop to Europe will have to drive three hours to Cleveland, from which Continental operates a daily flight to London; four hours to Baltimore, from which half a dozen carriers offer direct European connections; 4 1/2 hours to Cincinnati, from which Delta offers service to both Paris and London; or five hours to Toronto, which has a wide variety of European service. Of course, those drive times are all both approximate and one way.

Whatever the case, getting to and from Europe is going to require considerably more time, hassle and day-of-travel uncertainties than Pittsburghers have become used to during the nearly two decades since British Airlines first introduced us to nonstop flights to London.

The difference means much more than that vacation trips to England or France will take longer, that weekend trans-Atlantic jaunts will become impractical, or that cases of jet lag will be more severe.

Anyone who travels to Europe frequently for business or other purposes will have to invest vastly more time and energy in the trip. Similarly, European-based businesses will be less likely to consider establishing operations in this area, and European travelers will be less tempted to plan journeys that involve a visit to Pittsburgh.

In the world of international travel, the loss of direct air service to Europe diminishes Pittsburgh's stature, all the amenities of our wonderful airport notwithstanding.

This fact is evidenced by a trip my family and I made earlier this month to France. The flight we took to Paris five years ago involved a nonstop journey of about eight hours each way. This August, the outward itinerary required an 80-minute flight to Philadelphia and a seven-hour-and-40-minute hop to Charles DeGaulle airport, with flight legs of similar duration for the homeward journey.

Both trips, however, also entailed considerable additional time in Philadelphia, all the more so since we had purchased our economy class tickets on Priceline.com, which relegated us to the least desirable routings.

Going out, we were originally scheduled for a 4 1/2-hour connection. We were to leave Pittsburgh on a 1:40 p.m. flight to catch a 6:05 p.m. departure from Philadelphia, arriving in Paris at 7:40 a.m. With time zone changes, that would have made the journey 12 hours on paper, not counting the three hours we allowed to get from our home, clear security and get to the departure gate, nor the three hours clearing customs in Paris and getting into a hotel room. That was the plan.

However, on the morning of our trip we got a call from US Airways advising us that the 1:40 flight had been canceled and we had been rescheduled for a flight at 3 p.m. That cut our connection time in Philadelphia to about 50 minutes, just long enough for us to rush from the domestic arrival gate to the international departure gate, a hike of more than half a mile. We boarded the plane with only minutes to spare, and, fortunately, so did our luggage, which appeared on the baggage carousel in Paris less than a half-hour after we arrived.

That made our total journey 15 actual hours, door to door, and 21 hours on the clock.

Coming home, we were scheduled for a 1:40 p.m. flight from Paris, arriving in Philadelphia at 4:10 p.m., and connecting to a 9:55 p.m. flight to Pittsburgh.

We caught a 10:30 a.m. airport bus from the hotel and arrived at the departure lounge at about 12:45 p.m., in time for a pleasant surprise. Because economy class was overbooked, my wife and her two traveling companions were being "involuntarily upgraded" to Envoy Class, for reasons no one could explain.

Traveling in the wide seats with plenty of leg room made our trans-Atlantic journey much more enjoyable. On the other hand, a minor instrument glitch kept the plane on the runway in Paris for two extra hours, and delayed our arrival in Philadelphia by more than an hour.

When we landed in the City of Brotherly Love, we discovered that there was an 8 p.m. flight to Pittsburgh. Plenty of seats were available on the earlier flight, and we were permitted to make the change for $25 each.

Since we were already feeling somewhat jet lagged, that seemed to be a reasonable deal at the time. Unfortunately, the 8 p.m. flight didn't take off until 9:20, which diminished any advantage. Still, we arrived back in Pittsburgh roughly an hour before we had been scheduled, along with all of our luggage. Even considering out trans-Atlantic comfort, we were all dragging by the time we got home. The time elapsed on the clock was only 12 hours, but our actual travel time door to door was more than 18 hours!

Rather than a complaint about what seems to be inevitable, this information is intended as a forecast of what travelers can now expect. Clearly, these changes that US Airways is making will add up to higher hurdles local travelers must leap in order to reach Europe.

It also means they should pay more attention to alternative European connections offered by airlines other than US Airways. Their connections may be faster, less expensive and, with the reduction of in-flight services, more amenable than those of US Airways.

Considering the lack of allegiance that airline's management apparently feels for the passengers who use its Pittsburgh hub, there is certainly less reason for any sense of brand loyalty on our part.

And this reduction in direct European service raises another question. Since US Airways has announced it will stop using its designated route from Pittsburgh to London Gatwick, what happens to that trans-Atlantic slot?

Under the Open Skies agreement the United States has with France, there are no restrictions on flying to Paris, so any airline is free to offer service. According to a Department of Transportation spokesperson, however, the Pittsburgh/London situation is another matter entirely. That route was assigned to US Airways, but when the carrier lets it go inactive, other U.S. airlines will be free to file applications to assume that trans-Atlantic slot. In either case, the rights for that route could be eventually be reassigned to another U.S. market, but any action would require DOT approval. That process would provide an opportunity for public input.

We hope if that eventuality arises, local officials will apply what leverage and resources they can muster to prevent the loss of this international access.

Having a nonstop gateway to Europe will make a subtle but significant difference in how the rest of the world regards us; not having it will negatively impact regional development far into the future.

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