People’s Airline Coming to Pittsburgh?

Plans to revive the old People Express evidently include flights into and out of Pittsburgh International. Great. We have always supported the idea of competition as a way to hold down fares and improve service. And, to the extent the new carrier will offer service to cities not currently being served, that is even better for Pittsburgh area travelers.

But wait. There is a big fly in this ointment. To get the as-yet-to-get-off the ground carrier to commit to Pittsburgh, the Airport Authority is offering the airline free landing and gate fees. Not a good thing. If the carrier is planning to be competitive, and possibly take business away from existing airlines by offering very low fares via the free landing and gate fees, then this is a bad move by the airport. Indeed, the move could be counterproductive if the new carrier, with its enormous costs advantage, forces existing carriers to reduce the level of service and thereby reduce landing and gate fee revenues.

Three cheers for competition. Raspberries for subsidized competition that harms the unsubsidized competitors.