PITTSBURGH, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- US Airways will build a $25 million operations center in Pittsburgh employing 600 people, the airline said Wednesday.
The 60,000-square-foot facility will be "the nerve center of US Airways' 1,400 daily mainline flights," the Tempe, Ariz., airline said.
US Airways selected Pittsburgh rather than Phoenix or Charlotte, N.C., because Pittsburgh was "the best operational and financial choice for our people and our airline," President Scott Kirby said.
He added the airline was "especially pleased that we can preserve jobs in the Pittsburgh area."
Pittsburgh suffered more than any other US Airways city following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Pittsburgh International Airport, built in 1992 largely to US Airways' specifications, was stripped of its hub status -- it had been the airline's largest -- and lost almost 400 US Airways daily flights.
US Airways intends to break ground on a 10-acre site this year, with the first full day of operation in early 2009, the airline said.
