TRANSPORTATION

USAir Considers Starting Low-Fare Airline: USAir Group Inc. is hoping to head off other discount carriers such as Southwest Airlines Inc. that are encroaching on its stronghold in the Northeast. Airline and union officials began discussing the possibility of a no-frills carrier last month, said David McLarney, a USAir pilot and a spokesman for USAir’s Air Line Pilots Assn. Arlington, Va.-based USAir wouldn’t be the first major U.S. airline to start a low-cost carrier. Several years ago, UAL Corp.’s United Airlines formed United Express. This week, Delta Air Lines Inc. inaugurated its own budget carrier serving the Midwest, the Northeast and Florida. USAir is struggling with the industry’s highest cost structure.