US Airways has thrown up the white flag on Florida service. It announced Thursday it will eliminate all nonstop service to the Sunshine State from Pittsburgh International Airport, surrendering the most popular destinations to other airlines.

Starting Jan. 5, 24 weekly nonstops will cease and US Airways customers headed for Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa will have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte. The decision is part of an effort by the airline to offset staggering fuel costs by reducing its capacity by 3 percent to 5 percent.

Industry analysts say this decision should not be interpreted as an insult to the region's traveling public. It is a natural consequence of the airline's decision in 2004 to stop using Pittsburgh International as a hub.

But Allegheny County taxpayers have long memories, and hurt feelings are a natural consequence of spending millions to build a state-of-the-art facility to US Airways' specifications and then watching the jobs and service dwindle away.

The airline that once offered more than 500 daily nonstop flights from Pittsburgh is down to 58 this month. The announcement that the number will fall further came just a week after the airline eliminated all service to Harrisburg and Richmond, Va., and cut all but one nonstop flight per day to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

To some extent, the airline redeemed itself with plans for a new flight operations center in Moon, adding 150 new good-paying technical positions and retaining 450 jobs that might have been lost if the center had gone elsewhere.

At least snowbirds and others looking for a Florida getaway have other options. AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines and USA 3000 still offer nonstop service.