Nonstop flights from PIT

As of February 2008, our nonstop destination airports have dwindled to 50. Thirteen airlines now serve Pittsburgh International, but they offer an average of only 186 nonstop flights per day -- a 37 percent drop, according to figures provided by airport authorities.

With news of flight cutbacks because of the tight economy, soaring fuel prices and other economic issues, this reduction is probably not a surprise.

But for a better sense of how far we've fallen, consider the difference since Sept. 11, 2001, when 633 nonstop flights left Pittsburgh on an average day. One consequence of this nearly 66 percent reduction in flight traffic in seven years is the mothballing of more than 20 gates in the airport's A Concourse.

Regular air travelers already are painfully aware how much this dramatic reduction in nonstop flights increases their time and trouble required to fly across the country and around the world. There's a huge difference between a nonstop journey and one involving connections -- especially if it involves clearing additional security checkpoints.

On the positive side, ticket prices from Pittsburgh have decreased by 27 percent to an average of $140, ranking them among the lowest in the country.

A word about flight nomenclature, which can be confusing for the uninitiated. A nonstop flight means exactly that. A direct flight means a journey on one plane that stops once or more along the way. Online journeys are those that involve connecting flights between planes of the same airline, while partnership journeys may entail flying on planes of two or more carriers. Code-share flights are those that can be sold by one carrier but may involve actually flying on another's planes.

No matter the cost or how it's described, the advantages of flying nonstop are obvious.

Unfortunately, given the pricing strategies and flight route systems of many airlines these days, itineraries that entail making several connections can often, but not always, be less expensive than flying nonstop, sometimes much less so.

Furthermore, making connections has become more problematic as airlines have trimmed the number of flights they offer as well as the capacity of the planes they fly. With fewer departures and more planes flying fully booked, there is much less slack to accommodate passengers whose itineraries go awry, whether for their fault, the airlines' or Mother Nature's. Once a rare exception, passengers who miss a flight connection in these tight times can commonly be stranded for a day or more.

Flying nonstop becomes an even greater factor on international journeys. Having to make a flight connection on the way to Europe, whether in Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Toronto or Washington, D.C., adds many extra hours to already long travel days that have covered multiple time zones. Unfortunately, since US Airways eliminated all its nonstop service from Pittsburgh International to London, Paris and Frankfurt (not to mention nearly two-thirds of its domestic service), the only airport outside the United States to which we can still fly nonstop each day is Toronto.

So where can we still leap in a single bound? For a menu of where Pittsburghers can still fly without changing planes, follow this link:

http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20080406trv_Pittsburgh_flights_11x17.pdf

The list details the 50 airports that still have nonstop service. Out of 46 cities served, the top 10 for weekly nonstop flights from Pittsburgh are the New York City area's three airports (185), Chicago's two airports (115), Philadelphia (109), Atlanta (82), Washington, D.C. (73), Charlotte (58), Orlando (56), Dallas (40) and Detroit (34).

And 19 of those destinations are situated 400 miles or less from Pittsburgh, well within the distance many travelers consider short enough to drive.

This leaves 31 destinations to which flying offers a clear time advantage over driving. On the other hand, there are only 11 nonstop flights each week to the West Coast -- four to San Francisco and seven to Los Angeles -- and the only nonstop returns from Los Angeles are overnight red-eye flights. US Airways has announced a few extra flights for summer.

Another reality: when it comes to nonstop, there isn't really much competition. Only 13 airports are served by more than one carrier. Also, despite welcoming Southwest and JetBlue, Pittsburgh International is still heavily dependent on US Airways, which operates about 43 percent of all flights.

Apart from inconvenience to travelers, the paucity of nonstop service hinders economic development. Robust airline transportation is a primary concern for companies when deciding where to locate operations, especially those with international connections.

It remains to be seen whether the Open Skies Agreement that took effect last Sunday will attract any international carriers to establish regular service to our admirable but underused airport. Under the agreement, airlines can now more freely fly between U.S. airports and the European Community, and a number of new routes has been announced, mostly by established international carriers, including Lufthansa between Seattle and Frankfurt and Continental from Cleveland to Paris. Upstart European carriers such as RyanAir are actively considering trans-Atlantic possibilities, and new airlines are being established to take advantage of the pact, including OpenSkies Airline, which has just announced service between New York and Paris.

We can only hope one of these airlines wises up and realizes the international potential Pittsburgh offers. Of course, higher fuel prices and economic downturn are also sure to have a significant impact on any carrier's willingness to take a chance on Pittsburgh International.

As the old 8-ball fortune-telling novelty might respond: "Future cloudy, ask again."

We'll keep you posted.