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Saturday, March 18, 2000

Skies over Pittsburgh just got friendlier

By Christine Gillette, Portsmouth Herald Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH - Pan American Airways begins scheduled service to Pittsburgh and resumes flights to Gary, Ind., on Monday, and will likely add more international charters from Pease next weekend.

The first flight from Pease International Tradeport to Pittsburgh leaves at 6:15 a.m., landing in that city at about 7:30 a.m. and then continuing on to Gary/Chicago Airport.

And while a ribbon-cutting event will be held in Gary on Monday afternoon before the first Pan Am flight from that city to Pittsburgh, an airline official said yesterday there's not going to be a similar event in Pittsburgh marking Pan Am's first flight there.

"We're not making it a big event," said Dan Fortnam, Pan Am marketing director. "We've had this Pittsburgh destination identified for months now."

The low-key arrival is to emphasize that Pan Am is not trying to take advantage of US Airways' labor problems _ including a breakdown in negotiations with flight attendants that could shut the airline down next week. Pittsburgh is one of US Airways' three major hubs and dominates air traffic in and out of that city's airport.

"We had this in motion long before any issues with US Air surfaced," Fortnam said.

Although the beginning of flights to Pittsburgh won't get a lot of fanfare, Fortnam said it is an important event for the company. "It's a significant move for Pan Am, very much. It puts us into a major airport ... a true business destination.

"But we're going to be sensitive to how we're going to enter the market," he said.

But one of the reasons Pan Am is entering the Pittsburgh market, Fortnam said, is there aren't a lot of other options than US Airways for business and leisure passengers in the Boston area. Pan Am will charge fares starting at $109 one way to Pittsburgh from Pease, he said.

So far, bookings from Portsmouth to Pittsburgh "are soft," he said, but "inquiries are huge," coming in from travel agents and the public. "(Bookings) are trickling in at the moment. I think that will change next week."

Pan Am has high hopes for the response to service between Gary and Pittsburgh.

The airline suspended flights to and from Pease and Gary earlier this month because of low bookings, which were averaging about 25 to 30 people for 149-seat Boeing 727s.

"The Portsmouth to Gary (route) right now has become one stop instead of nonstop," Fortnam said. "I expect we're going to see about the same number of people traveling on the one-stop as the nonstop."

Because Pittsburgh is a hub for US Airways, Pan Am's service to that airport will allow travelers from the Seacoast and the Gary area to make connections to destinations all over the United States.

"It gives you the convenience of leaving your car here for free and then getting from Pittsburgh to virtually anywhere else in the country," Fortnam said.

Starting May 1, Pan Am will add flights to Pittsburgh, Gary and Sanford, Fla., directly from Bangor, Maine. Currently, Bangor passengers must stop first at Pease, where passengers board, and then continue on to Sanford.

"What that's going to do is open up a lot more seats for folks from Bangor going to Florida," Fortnam said. Passengers from the Seacoast area have been filling flights on their own from Pease to Sanford in recent weeks.

Pan Am is also negotiating with a large tour operator to fly charter flights from Pease to Montego Bay, Fortnam said. The deal, which is nearly complete, would begin at Pease next Saturday.