Exhibit 31(A)

                               CERTIFICATIONS

     I, William P. Heath, Jr., certify that:

     1.     I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of FNB
            Corporation;

     2.     Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
            statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
            necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
            circumstances under which such statements were made, not
            misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

     3.     Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
            financial information included in this report, fairly present in
            all material respects the financial condition, results of
            operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
            periods presented in this report;

     4.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
            for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
            procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-
            15(e)) for the registrant and have:

            a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                 caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                 designed under our supervision, to ensure that
                 material information relating to the registrant,
                 including it consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
                 to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this report is being
                 prepared;

           b)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
                this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of
                the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
                of the period covered by this report based on such
                evaluation; and

           c)   Disclosed in this report any change in the
                registrant's internal control over financial reporting
                that occurred during the registrant's most recent
                fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter
                in the case of an annual report) that has materially
                affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                affect, the registrant's internal control over
                financial reporting; and

     5.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
            based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
            financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
            committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons
            performing the equivalent functions):

           a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses
                in the design or operation of internal control over
                financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
                adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
                process, summarize and report financial information;
                and

           b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                management or other employees who have a significant
                role in the registrant's internal control over
                financial reporting.


Date:   March 3, 2004          s/William P. Heath, Jr.
                               William P. Heath, Jr.
                               President & Chief Executive Officer