US Airways' Field Trip FUNd Program Funds Education Adventures

TEMPE, Ariz., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- US Airways (NYSE: LCC) has awarded 43 schools with a $500 grant from the US Airways Field Trip FUNd this semester. The grant provides financial support to Title I public schools in the airline's hub and focus cities of Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. for ground transportation needs for educational field trips.

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Melvin E. Sine Elementary School in Glendale, Ariz., will use the $500 grant for the fifth grade trip to the Grand Canyon. There, students will use lessons and skills taught in the classroom to gather information on geography and the environment while taking part in an educational program conducted by the Environmental Education staff at Grand Canyon National Park. "This will really help us get to the Grand Canyon and it means so much to us!" said Jeremy Rose, a fifth-grade teacher.

With many school districts reducing field trips due to budget cuts and rising energy, fuel and ground transportation costs, the US Airways Field Trip FUNd meets a special need. Kelly Balthazor, US Airways' director of community relations said, "We want to help schools by alleviating the burden of some of these costs and understand that educational field trips provide the opportunity to enrich and extend classroom studies." Recipients of 2012 Spring Field Trip FUNd grants are:

Through the US Airways Field Trip FUNd, students can take off on a new educational adventure, whether that's taking a bus to hear the opera, visiting a zoo or walking in the footsteps of our ancestors at historical sites. The grants may be applied for by teachers, school administrators, club advisors and parent volunteers located within the geographic parameters of the airline's three hubs and focus city. The schools that apply must have a minimum 70 percent Title I student population (students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals as determined by the State Board of Education). Preference will be given to schools in which children of US Airways employees are students.

A $500 grant will be awarded directly to schools to be used for field trip ground transportation needs such as buses or gas. The fall 2012 applications will be available after Aug. 1 and must be submitted by Oct. 1. For more information, visit www.usairways.com/corporategiving. Grants will be awarded based on educational goals, adherence to state educational standards, curriculum and projected outcomes.

About US Airways

US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates more than 3,100 flights per day and serves more than 200 communities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The airline employs more than 32,000 aviation professionals worldwide and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers its customers more than 21,000 daily flights to 1,290 airports in 189 countries. Together with its US Airways Express partners, the airline serves approximately 80 million passengers each year and operates hubs in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Phoenix, and a focus city in Washington, D.C. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. US Airways was the only airline included as one of the 50 best companies to work for in the U.S. by LATINA Style magazine's 50 Report for 2010 and 2011. The airline also earned a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality index for six consecutive years. The Corporate Equality index is a leading indicator of companies' attitudes and policies toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and customers. US Airways also ranked #1 among its competing hub-and-spoke network carriers for 2010 performance as rated by the Wichita State University/Purdue University Airline Quality Rating (AQR). For more company information visit usairways.com, follow on Twitter @USAirways or at Facebook.com/USAirways.  (LCCG)

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SOURCE US Airways