Onorato courts Southwest

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will travel to Dallas in the next week or two to meet with Southwest Airlines officials to talk about long term plans for expansion in Pittsburgh. Airport Authority Executive Director Brad Penrod is accompanying him. They were to have meet with the company Tuesday but bad weather in Dallas forced flight conciliations and delays so the meeting had to be rescheduled. Onorato says Southwest has gone from an initial 10 flights a day to 27 and he says the company plans to expand but it is unclear when or by how much. He says he wants to talk to company executives about making it as much as possible and as quickly as possible. He says this is not a “courtesy call.” He says discussions have gone well beyond that point. Onorato says there is no doubt that there is room for southwest to grow here.