Southwest's bold entry into Philladelphia has rivals quaking

Philadelphia (USA TODAY) Southwest Airlines will start small at Philadelphia on Sunday with just 14 flights a day, but that's just the beginning. And it's not banking on the quick demise of US Airways and its Philadelphia hub to achieve that.

Customer service agent Tricia Arrigo at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter at Midway Airport.
By Tim Boyle, Getty Images

"Our success in no way depends on the failure of anybody else," says Southwest CEO Jim Parker. (Related story: S&P lowers US Airways' debt rating at crucial time)

In fact, folks at Southwest hint that they wouldn't mind if high-cost US Airways hangs on at Philadelphia through the end of this decade. That would keep valuable gates at Philadelphia International Airport from falling into the hands of rivals that could limit or block Southwest's growth.

"US Airways is a bystander caught in a much bigger fight that most people don't yet understand," airline consultant Mike Boyd says. "They will be hurt badly by Southwest, but US Airways is not the real target."

Southwest is aiming at the league of new low-cost, low-fare carriers modeled in one way or another after Southwest itself — JetBlue, AirTran, Frontier, ATA and Spirit. Each has the itch, and the financial wherewithal, to grow. In fact, AirTran already serves Philadelphia, and Frontier launches service there May 23.

So why all the interest in Philly?

It's the nation's fifth-largest city, but it's the largest city served by just one commercial airport. An estimated 12 million people live within a two-hour drive of that airport. Yet it's only 18th among all airports in the number of passenger trips that originate or end there. And it has some of the highest average fares in the nation. Most important, by all accounts, Philadelphia fliers are starved for low-cost, low-fare service.

"Philadelphia is an overpriced, underserved market," Parker says. "It's a tailor-made situation for Southwest Airlines."

That helps explain the unusual level of intensity Southwest has displayed during the run-up to its Philadelphia launch.

Feds Mistakenly Reveal Philadelphia Tap Details

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Federal authorities inadvertently disclosed secret details of an investigation into alleged corruption in Philadelphia when they posted information about wiretapping in the case on a court Web site.

For several hours Friday, the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts included what was supposed to have been sealed information about the probe in an annual public report on government surveillance. A revised report, without the confidential information, was released Tuesday.

The original report gave the names of the federal judges who authorized the wiretaps, and the dates they were placed. It indicated that some of the taps had been placed as part of a racketeering investigation, and noted that more than 5,000 "incriminating intercepts'' were made during the period when law enforcement agents were listening in.

The document did not contain the names of the people whose phones were tapped, but the information could be ascertained by matching dates on tapes listed in the document with dates on letters sent by prosecutors to people whose conversations were recorded.

The two-year investigation came to light Oct. 7, when police discovered an FBI bug that had been placed in the City Hall office of Mayor John F. Street.

Legal documents subsequently confirmed that federal agents had also tapped the phones of the city's treasurer, an administrator at Philadelphia International Airport, an attorney who raised money for Street's campaign, and a Muslim leader who owns a company that held city contracts.

Street and the others involved have denied any wrongdoing.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, which obtained a copy of the full report before it was withdrawn, reported the newly disclosed details of the bugging operation in Sunday's editions.

Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the court office, declined to say what led to the disclosure. Spokesmen for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia also declined to comment.

New Illegal Lollipop Street Drug "Perc-a-Pops" gets it's start in Philadelphia

Philadelphia - A narcotic painkiller in lollipop-like form designed to speed relief to cancer patients has begun showing up in illegal sales in Philadelphia and elsewhere under the street nickname "perc-a-pops."

State law enforcement officials are warning of the potential for abuse of Actiq (search) -- a berry-flavored lozenge on a stick that contains the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

"We're starting to see it emerge as a drug that is, as we call it, 'diverted,' which is a legally prescribed drug being used illegally," said Kevin Harley, spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert (search). "And it's a drug that is easily administered or taken by somebody who might be afraid to either take a pill, snort or inject a needle in their arm."

Manufactured by West Chester-based Cephalon Inc., Actiq's active ingredient is absorbed by rubbing the lozenge against the inside of the cheek.

It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to combat so-called "breakthrough pain," flares suffered by cancer patients who are already taking narcotics in more conventional liquid or pill form to cope with chronic pain.

Cephalon spokeswoman Stacey Beckhardt said the company does not know the extent to which Actiq is used recreationally, but noted Cephalon maintains a risk-management program to combat such abuse.

"Like any opioid, there is a potential for misuse of a product. We believe ... there has not been a substantial diversion of this product in the state or elsewhere," she said.

Philadelphia Police arrested a Bensalem couple in October on drug charges and seized nearly 100 perc-a-pops, according to the Bucks County Courier-Times. That raid was prompted by a prior arrest in northeast Philadelphia that had netted about 30 of the Actiq lozenges.

And last week in northeastern Pennsylvania, Carbondale police arrested three people for delivery and possession of Actiq in the form of what they called "morphine lollypop sticks," the Scranton Times reported.

Harley said each Actiq lozenge retails for $9.10, but the going street value is $20.

"We started seeing them in Philly, and that's where we understand the nickname came from," he said.

Beckhardt described the taste as "a mild berry flavor," which she said was necessary to meet "patient acceptability." But Harley said the attractive taste makes abuse more likely.


Dramatization

New Military High School Recruiting Hard in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA(AP) - While the U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, military recruitment for a non-combat endeavor is underway in Philadelphia.

Public school officials are visiting eighth grade classes around the city to spark interest in a new military high school, set to open in September.

So far, about 200 students - 59 percent male, 41 percent female - have applied for the 150 spots in the inaugural 9th grade class at Philadelphia Military Academy. The public school will be located inside Leeds Middle School in the city's Mount Airy section.

"Interest is well above my expectations," said retired (Army) Lt. Col. Russell A. Gallagher, who runs the school district's Junior ROTC program.

The academy's goal is to steer students toward graduation and college, not the draft board, he said.

Peace activists, though, have vocally opposed the program.

"Young people are being sold on war and violence - violence as a means to an end," said Oskar Castro, a program director with the American Friends Service Committee.