US Airways 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

Table of Contents
cash to enhance liquidity through a number of initiatives such as traditional public stock and debt issuances, asset sales, asset sale-
leasebacks and transactions with co-branded credit card issuers.
Airline Operations
We operate the fifth largest airline in the United States as measured by domestic revenue passenger miles ("RPMs") and available seat
miles ("ASMs"). We have hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix and a focus city at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
We offer scheduled passenger service on more than 3,000 flights daily to more than 190 communities in the United States, Canada,
Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America. We also have an established East Coast route network,
including the US Airways Shuttle service, with a substantial presence at Washington National Airport. We had approximately 51 million
passengers boarding our mainline flights in 2009. During 2009, our mainline operation provided regularly scheduled service or seasonal
service at 138 airports while the US Airways Express network served 152 airports in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including 75
airports also served by our mainline operation. US Airways Express air carriers had approximately 27 million passengers boarding their
planes in 2009. As of December 31, 2009, we operated 349 mainline jets and are supported by our regional airline subsidiaries and
affiliates operating as US Airways Express either under capacity purchase or prorate agreements, which operated approximately
236 regional jets and 60 turboprops.
For information regarding US Airways Group's and US Airways' operating segments and operating revenue in principal geographic
areas, see Notes 13 and 12, respectively, to their respective financial statements included in Items 8A and 8B of this Annual Report on
Form 10-K.
In October 2009, we announced the realignment of our operations to focus on our core network strengths, which include our hubs in
Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix and our focus city at Washington National Airport. These four cities, as well as our popular hourly
Shuttle service between LaGuardia, Boston and Washington National airports, will serve as the cornerstone of our network and by the
end of 2010 are expected to represent 99% of our ASMs versus approximately 93% in 2009. Changes to facilitate this strategy include
reducing daily departures from Las Vegas, closing stations in Colorado Springs and Wichita, redeploying our E190 fleet to routes
between Boston and Philadelphia and the Boston-LaGuardia leg of the Shuttle, suspending five European destinations, returning our
Philadelphia-Beijing route authority, rightsizing our crew bases at our hubs and focus city and closing crew bases in Boston, LaGuardia
and Las Vegas. In connection with the realignment of our operations, we will reduce staffing by approximately 1,000 positions across our
system during the first half of 2010. These reductions include approximately 600 airport passenger and ramp service positions,
approximately 200 pilot positions and approximately 150 flight attendant positions. We believe that by concentrating on our strengths and
eliminating unprofitable flying we will be better positioned to return US Airways to profitability.
In August 2009, US Airways Group and US Airways entered into a mutual asset purchase and sale agreement with Delta Air Lines,
Inc. ("Delta"). Pursuant to the agreement, US Airways would transfer to Delta certain assets related to flight operations at LaGuardia
Airport in New York, including 125 pairs of slots currently used to provide US Airways Express service at LaGuardia. Delta would
transfer to US Airways certain assets related to flight operations at Washington National Airport, including 42 pairs of slots, and the
authority to serve Sao Paulo, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan. One slot equals one take-off or landing, and each pair of slots equals one roundtrip
flight. The agreement is structured as two simultaneous asset sales and is expected to be cash neutral to US Airways. The closing of the
transactions under the agreement is subject to certain closing conditions, including approvals from a number of government agencies,
including the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA")
and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. If approved, this transaction will significantly increase our capacity in the
Washington, D.C. market and improve profitability.
On February 9, 2010, the DOT issued a proposed order conditionally approving the transaction. The proposed order, which is subject
to a 30-day comment period, would require the airlines to divest 20 of the 125 slot pairs involved at LaGuardia and 14 of the 42 slot pairs
at Washington National. Delta and we are currently reviewing the DOT's proposed order to determine next steps. However, we expect
that if this order is implemented as proposed the transaction will not go forward.
6