PHILDELPHIA, Pa., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Philadelphia's airport will pay big bucks to keep US Airways, even as the Pittsburgh area reels from the loss of about 800 jobs at the bankrupt carrier.
Philadelphia International Airport spent $6 million for 30 jet bridges owned by the airline and used by passengers to board airplanes. Those bridges will be leased to the airline, the Philadelphia Inquirer said Thursday.
The airport also will help US Airways promote its new nonstop flights between Philadelphia and Barcelona, Spain, and Venice, Italy, scheduled to start in May.
US Airways also will be reimbursed $522,000 for airport security, through funding the airport got from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
The various deals, which substitute millions owed to the city's airport with a multi-million dollar credit line, will save US Airways about $11 million through March.
Meanwhile, the carrier fired more than 800 people by closing a reservation center in Greentree, Pa., and offices in Findlay Township, Pa., and moving the work to North Carolina.
The move had been expected.
