US Airways is demoting Pittsburgh from a hub to a "focus city" — the same demotion some industry watchers say Delta might give to Salt Lake City.

A focus city is an airport that still maintains many flights of one carrier but doesn't have enough flights to be considered a hub. Currently, Delta has hubs in Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Dallas-Ft. Worth and has three focus cities: New York City, Orlando, Fla., and Boston.

Whether Salt Lake City would end up like Pittsburgh or like Raleigh-Durham, Nashville and San Jose remains to be seen.

On one hand, the Wasatch Front is growing rapidly, making Salt Lake City seem more like the three regions that have succeeded after losing hub status. On the other hand, Salt Lake City, which has seen its enplaned passenger counts drop from 10.5 million in 1996 to a projected 9 million in 2004, may be more like Pittsburgh, which has also witnessed passenger decline.

At the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, officials are not commenting on Delta moves or speculating on their effects. They are similarly quiet about what effect a Delta demotion might have on the airport's massive redesign plans, which have been in the works since 1998 and are largely designed to appease Delta.

"There are three things that can happen" if Delta leaves, Salt Lake City Department of Airports spokeswoman Barbara Gann said. "We can stay the same, we can grow, and we can shrink, and to push one of those (scenarios) ahead of another is just premature right now. . . . We just have to sit this one out until Delta tells us what they're doing."

When the airline's plans will be released is not yet clear.

"It will take several days for the board of directors to review the plan and make recommendations and decisions," company spokesman Anthony Black said. "As various initiatives are approved, they will be announced and implemented as appropriate over the next few months."

Many analysts have bashed the largely unprofitable hub system as arcane and stupid.

"No airline wants to open a hub, period," Michael Boyd, a Colorado aviation consultant, told the Associated Press.

Often the hub system forces travelers to connect through hubs even if the hub is in the opposite direction of the passenger's destination.

"It's being shown that it's not a very efficient way to do business," said Monte Yeager, executive secretary with the Utah Air Travel Commission. "Why fly north when you've got to go south?"