Making Progress: The Philadelphia International Airport and US Airways

Anyone who has flown in or out of the Philadelphia International Airport can see from the amount of traffic on the ground and in the air that PHL is a vital part of our regional economy. For this reason, the Chamber has followed closely announcements by its largest carrier on planned improvements.

US Airways, the airport’s main carrier with 61% of its traffic, has begun to make changes.

In January, the airline hired Suzanne Boda as senior vice president of the East, based in Philadelphia and Bob Ciminelli as vice president of its Philadelphia hub. Both executives bring extensive experience in East Coast airline operations.

Also, January marked the inauguration of Mayor Michael Nutter, and the opportunity for US Airways and the City of Philadelphia to begin a new relationship.

The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is proud to have helped facilitate this new beginning. Two days after the mayoral election, Mark Schweiker, president & CEO of the Chamber, set up a conference call between himself, mayor-elect Nutter and US Airways CEO Doug Parker for some "marriage counseling."

This phone call allowed Nutter and Parker to speak candidly about their respective needs in a way that shows "the harmony and the rapport that can come from new actors not being hidebound to the old play script," according to Schweiker.

The leaders began to work to figure out how both the City of Philadelphia and US Airways can prosper together, and there are already concrete results of their new working relationship.

Last week, US Airways announced that it intends, over the next five years, to double its number of international gates at the airport and create a satellite corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. US Airways is based in Arizona.

The airline has already hired 200 additional employees in Philadelphia, and is expected to spend about $30 million on upgrades to equipment and facilities this year.

The Chamber looks forward to airport improvements as a way to increase regional competiveness and foster a flourishing business environment.