Profit sharing checks totaling $49 million will be distributed to US Airways employees in hundreds of communities as the airline celebrates its second consecutive year of profitability since merging with America West in 2005.“Last year was our second consecutive profitable year as one carrier and I’m delighted that today our employees will share in this success through our profit sharing program,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “Our employees have done an outstanding job of taking care of our customers as evidenced by our recent industry leading on-time performance.”

US Airways’ profit sharing program sets aside 10 percent of the airline’s annual pre-tax profits excluding special items. The airline posted a 2007 net profit (excluding special items) of $427 million as announced earlier this year.

Last year’s milestones include:

—Moving to a single FAA operating certificate

—Migrating to single reservations, maintenance and flight operating computer systems.

—Breaking ground for a state-of-the-art single operations control center in Pittsburgh.

—Launching three new international destinations, Athens, Zurich, and Brussels.

—Receiving an award for the airline’s first-ever route to Asia from Philadelphia to Beijing.

—Placing an order for 17 new A330s, 22 new A350s, and 60 A320 family aircraft

—Recently hired 350 new pilots, recalled 200 flight attendants and hired more than 1,000 new employees over the summer of 2007.

In addition to the profit sharing program US Airways employees receive cash bonuses for achieving operational incentives. US Airways paid $5.2 million to employees in incentives for 2007, and recently announced it will pay out $1.8 million in incentive checks to employees for achieving the top spot in on-time performance among major carriers in January.
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