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Dear Members,

US Airways Announces Slot Transaction with Delta Airlines

Today US Airways announced a slot agreement with Delta Air Lines that will help create a more competitive global airline. This move will enable us to expand service at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), and enter important new markets in Brazil and Japan. To accomplish this, we’ll need to reduce our Express flights at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), but mainline flight levels will not be affected. We anticipate the net effect of this transaction will be to improve US Airways’ profitability.

This transaction must be reviewed and approved by certain regulatory agencies. Upon regulatory approval, US Airways will obtain 42 pairs of slots (roundtrip flights) at DCA and will obtain access to slots at Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU) and Tokyo, Japan (NRT) -- all from Delta. At the same time, we’ll transfer 125 pairs of slots at LGA to Delta.

Management will be holding local employee meetings both in LGA and DCA and our union representatives will be in attendance. Labor Relations will hold a conference call for union officials today at 1200 local PHX time to answer questions and brief us in greater detail.

We will release more details as the become available.

Buddy Brannon
MEC Vice-President
US Airways

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Slot Transaction
-- US Airways will obtain 42 pairs of slots (roundtrip flights) at DCA from Delta.
-- US Airways will transfer 125 pairs of slots at LGA to Delta.
-- We will obtain access to slots at Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU) and Tokyo, Japan (NRT) and from Delta.

Timing and Regulatory Approval
-- Various regulatory approvals are expected to take several months.
-- Implementation of the flight schedule changes is expected to begin in early 2010 with many aspects taking up to a year from now to implement.

DCA Expansion
-- Adding 42 new peak-day departures.
-- US Airways will operate 229 peak-day departures at DCA when the transaction is complete.
-- Adding 15 new daily destinations to our DCA schedule including eight cities that currently have no daily nonstop service to DCA on any airline.
-- Anticipated new US Airways service from Washington National Airport:

US Airways will initiate new service to eight cities that currently have no daily nonstop service to/from DCA at this time from any airline.

Birmingham, Ala. (BHM)
Islip, N.Y. (ISP)
Ithaca, N.Y. (ITH)
Little Rock, Ark. (LIT)
Myrtle Beach, S.C. (MYR)
Pensacola, Fla. (PNS)
Savannah, Ga. (SAV)
Tallahassee, Fla. (TLH)

US Airways will initiate new service to seven markets that currently have service to/from DCA today with other airlines.

Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG)
Des Moines, Iowa (DSM)
Grand Rapids, Mich. (GRR)
Madison, Wis. (MSN)
Montreal, Canada (YUL)
Miami, Fla. (MIA)
Ottawa, Canada (YOW)

-- US Airways plans to cover all of the DCA destinations that Delta decides to discontinue as a result of this transaction.
-- Expanding use of larger dual-class jet service at DCA by 50 percent.
-- Following full implementation of the new schedule, US Airways expects its passenger enplanements to increase by 30 to 35 percent as a result of the new flights and the use of larger aircraft at DCA, while having no impact on one of the most congested air spaces in the world.

International Expansion
-- US Airways will gain future access to two of the world's most important business airports - Sao Paulo and Tokyo. Sao Paulo and Tokyo will bolster our international growth plans for South America and Asia, and this transaction provides a unique opportunity to expand into two prominent international business markets where US Airways would otherwise not be able to operate.
-- These two cities will complement US Airways' existing portfolio of more than 50 international destinations in nearly 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, North America and the Caribbean.
-- With today's transaction, we have acquired the rights to serve Sao Paulo; and anticipate starting service to Sao Paulo in the second half of next year. Our plans to begin daily Charlotte-Rio de Janeiro service this December remain unchanged. We will be working with governmental authorities in both countries to assist us in securing additional authority to permit daily flights between Charlotte and both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. If we don't get additional authority, we'll have to decide how to allocate our seven weekly frequencies between the two destinations and that could mean all flights to Sao Paulo or a mix between the two destinations.
-- The Tokyo service is tentatively scheduled to operate from US Airways' Phoenix hub using Airbus 330-200 aircraft. It will require various government approvals and will be contingent upon economic conditions at the time. The airline does not anticipate starting Tokyo service until 2012 or later.

LGA Flight Reduction
-- US Airways will maintain a significant presence at LGA and will operate up to 72 peak-day departures, making US LGA's third largest carrier (based on peak-day departures).
-- US Airways plans to reduce its Express flight schedule at LGA, while mainline flight levels will not be affected.
-- Will continue to operate the popular US Airways Shuttle to BOS and DCA, as well as non-stop service to its CLT and PHL hubs, PIT and ILM.
-- US Airways plans to discontinue service to 26 LGA Express destinations. In a separate announcement made earlier today, Delta Air Lines communicated its intent with regard to the 125 slot pairs that were transferred to it by US Airways.
-- Shuttle operations at LGA will operate out of the Marine Air Terminal at the airport while service to CLT, PHL, PIT and ILM will operate out of Terminal D. The timing of a Shuttle move to the Marine Air Terminal will be announced well in advance and is expected sometime in early 2010.

Employee Impact
-- The precise number of employee furloughs and staff additions is unknown at this time due to the extended time period (up to one year) that regulatory approval and implementation of this transaction will take.
-- Elimination of approximately 300 positions at LGA with our wholly owned regional carrier, Piedmont, when the reduced Express flight schedule is implemented starting in early 2010.
-- Some mainline and additional Piedmont employees who support the impacted regional service at LGA and at field stations could also be affected.
-- Plan to add at least 100 new positions at DCA and new DCA destination airports.
-- Because regulatory approval is expected to take several months, none of the movement is expected to be implemented before early 2010 with many aspects taking up to a year from now to implement.

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US Airways - Delta Slot Transaction
Customer Contact Employee Highlights

What Did US Airways Announce Today?

-- US Airways and Delta have agreed to sell and transfer slots (flying rights that give us the ability to operate flights) at two airports, DC and New York's LaGuardia.

-- We will expand our service at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), and obtain access to Sao Paulo, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan.

-- Delta will expand their service at New York's LaGuardia Airport.
----- The details involve US Airways obtaining 42 pairs of Delta's slots at DCA and acquiring the rights to expand to Tokyo, Japan and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Simultaneously, US Airways will transfer 125 pairs of its slots to Delta at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA). A "pair of slots" is industry terminology for a roundtrip flight (one landing and one takeoff).

-- We're excited about this announcement because it will expand our service and give our customers more options to fly with us in DC, and it also improves our financials by potentially increasing profits by $75 million annually.

-- General Timing:
----- Various regulatory approvals are expected to take several months.
----- Implementation of the new flight schedule will not start until early 2010 and is not expected to be fully completed until a year from now.

-- Details of this transaction can be found in the news section of www.usairways.com.

More Service at DCA

-- This is great news for travelers to and from Washington, D.C. US Airways will provide nonstop service from DCA to 15 new daily destinations, including eight cities that currently have no daily nonstop service from DCA on any airline.

-- Since this transaction means Delta reduces service in DC, it's important to note that we plan to continue service to all DCA destinations that Delta may no longer serve.

-- Today, we have about 187 peak-day departures at DCA; after this transaction is complete, we'll have 229 peak-day departures at DCA.

-- Another great point about this expansion at DCA is that we'll up-gauge some of the service, meaning we'll use more mainline jets and reduce the use of regional jets. This puts more seats in the market, gives customers more travel options, and it does all of this without adding more planes/runway and traffic congestion.

-- It's important to bring more service to smaller communities from our nation's capital, and the following cities will maintain or receive new service by US Airways once this transaction is complete.

-- The 15 new destinations US Airways will serve from DCA after this transaction include:

US Airways will initiate new service to eight cities that currently have no daily nonstop service to/from DCA at this time from any airline.

Birmingham, Ala. (BHM)
Islip, N.Y. (ISP)
Ithaca, N.Y. (ITH)
Little Rock, Ark. (LIT)
Myrtle Beach, S.C. (MYR)
Pensacola, Fla. (PNS)
Savannah, Ga. (SAV)
Tallahassee, Fla. (TLH)

US Airways will initiate new service to seven markets that currently have service to/from DCA today with other airlines.

Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG)
Des Moines, Iowa (DSM)
Grand Rapids, Mich. (GRR)
Madison, Wis. (MSN)
Montreal, Canada (YUL)
Miami, Fla. (MIA)
Ottawa, Canada (YOW)

International Service

-- Today's announcement also presents the rights to fly to two important international business destinations - Sao Paulo, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan.

-- These two cities will complement US Airways' existing portfolio of more than 50 international destinations in more than 30 countries and territories across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean.

-- Both of these markets will take some time to start service so more to come on these destinations; we obviously can't sell them yet.

-- On Tokyo, that service is tentatively scheduled to operate from our Phoenix hub using Airbus 330-200 aircraft. It will require various government approvals and will be contingent upon economic conditions at the time. We don't anticipate starting Tokyo service until 2012 or later. More to come on this for sure, but for now, let's all have a sushi lunch and contemplate what's to come!

-- Regarding Sao Paulo, this is also exciting, but we need to explain a few things.

-- First, we had already announced service to Rio de Janeiro, which is planned to begin in December of this year.

-- Service to Sao Paulo will be scheduled to operate out of Charlotte in the second half of 2010. What we plan to do right now is work with the right government officials and swap our Rio flight for the Sao Paulo service. We want to do this because Sao Paulo is a better business market than Rio.

-- However, we want to fly to Rio too, at least that's our plan based on today's economics. So as we start service to Sao Paulo, we'll reapply for Rio service. We actually think we have a good shot at receiving approval to fly Rio too, so ultimately the plan is to fly to both. Again, more to come and for now, we should continue to sell Rio because we will operate that flight well into 2010 and perhaps even longer.

Impact at LGA

-- So at LGA, we obviously get smaller, and we're doing this by reducing our Express regional flying at LGA.

-- We will still maintain a significant operation and continue to operate our Shuttle service as well as our mainline service to CLT, PHL, PIT and Wilmington, N.C.

-- Even after this transaction is complete, we'll still have up to 72 peak-day flights and we'll still be the airport's third largest carrier.

-- However, we'll have 125 fewer flights at LGA, and this means we'll pull out of 26 Express destinations currently served from LGA.

-- This is going to impact our fellow employees at Piedmont (one of our wholly owned subsidiary airlines). We'll need approximately 300 fewer employees at Piedmont in New York, and we're working with Piedmont management to ensure our people are treated fairly.

-- None of this will happen until early 2010. And after complete, US Airways will operate the Shuttle from the Marine Air Terminal at LGA, while all of our other service at LGA will operate from Terminal D. We'll be making some enhancements to the Marine Air Terminal to meet our Shuttle customers' needs.

-- Lastly at LGA, we'll have keep our US Airways Club open, and it will eventually be located in Terminal D. Until then, we'll likely share Club facilities with Delta in Terminal C during the transition.

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AFA Local Numbers
 
Council 41 DCA 703-212-8090
Council 69 BOS 781-289-8454
Council 70 PHL 215-492-0840
Council 82 LGA 315-736-3483
Council 89 CLT 704-527-0325

New Hotline Number Toll Free: 866-USA-AFA2
US AIRWAYS Benefits Information 800-872-4780

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