Delta disappointment

A new Pittsburgh-to-Paris carrier must be a priority

When they debuted nine years ago, Delta’s nonstop flights between Pittsburgh and Paris provided a muchneeded psychological boost.

It was the first big break for Pittsburgh International Airport following US Airways’ abandonment of its hub here in 2004. When US Airways walked away, it left the airport, designed to be a hub, largely empty. That’s still the case today.

The Delta flights showed that Pittsburgh was an important city, that it was coming back and that it had great prospects.

Now, Pittsburgh’s future is brighter than ever, so Delta’s decision to end nonstop Paris service is both a surprise and a huge disappointment. It’s a blow to the city’s image, for starters, because what major city doesn’t have or want easy access to the City of Light?

It’s an impediment to continuing economic development efforts, too. Major cities want their corporate citizens to foster business overseas and, perhaps even more, they want foreign companies to put down roots here. Efforts to lure Amazon’s second headquarters to Pittsburgh didn’t get any easier with Delta’s decision to end the nonstop Paris flights Sept. 3.

Delta blamed the vagaries of the airline market, suggesting that officials’ success in wooing other European service came back to bite them.

With Condor and Wow Air offering nonstop service to Germany and Iceland, respectively, and British Airways’ announcement of nonstop service to London beginning next spring, Delta no longer saw enough of a niche here. One aviation industry analyst told the Post-Gazette’s Mark Belko that Wow, a budget carrier offering connections to various European cities from its hub in Iceland, undercut the market in Pittsburgh.

But a decision based on market share seems precipitous. While the Paris service is well established, the flights to Iceland and Germany are still new, and the London flights haven’t even started yet.

Besides, the Paris service is seasonal, running during the summer tourist season when demand for European service is highest and flights to Europe can be tough to get. There just might be enough business to go around, and a certain number of travelers, because of their schedules or because they’re tired of having to go to a place they don’t want to go just to get to a place they do, will choose to go directly to Paris even at a higher cost.

It’s also worth noting that Delta and Wow compete elsewhere. From Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Delta offers nonstop service to Paris and Wow offers nonstop service to Iceland. In Boston, Delta is one of four carriers offering nonstop service to Paris; Wow is one of two offering direct service from Boston to Iceland.

One thing is certain: The airport cannot be satisfied with the complement of airlines and flights that it has. It must always be recruiting, even if one carrier feels spurned by the courtship of others. Travelers and the region’s economy need as many options as possible, and the US Airways debacle is a constant reminder of what can happen when an airport counts too heavily on one airline.

Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, has shown considerable success at expanding domestic and international service. Though the Paris flights preceded her arrival here, she was responsible for landing the Iceland, Germany and London service.

Until now, London has been her biggest coup. Finding another carrier to provide Paris service now must be her priority, even if that means offering the kinds of financial incentives that got the Delta flights off the ground and that are supporting other European flights as well.

It will be great to have the London service. Germany and Iceland are nice, too. But Pittsburgh needs Paris service now more than ever.