Pittsburgh to Paris via Delta : Tres Bien N'at

The PostGazette reports that Delta airlines will commence Pittsburgh to Paris flights in a B757 starting April-May 2009. The new flights are generally recognized as a win for the Airport, even though local entities are responsible for guaranteeing $9M in revenues for the first two years.

Guaranteeing revenue for the airline is a bit like self-publishing and calling yourself a published author - you're paying for it - but these days it seems reasonable for the community to put some "skin in the game", and if $9M gets us international service for two years and begins some virtuous economic cycles, it's money well spent. And inevitably, it's a zero-sum world: Delta's PIT flight competes with Continental's Cleveland-Paris flight.

It seems interesting that the new flights were announced by the County Executive and his minions rather than the Airport Authority. Either way, Bravo Zulu to whoever made it happen, it's the first good news for the airport in a long time. Also, I can't put N'at in the post title without giving Eggs N'At a shout-out.