By Kathy Fieweger CHICAGO, May 7 (Reuters) - Jack Creighton, the outgoing chief executive of United Airlines, said on Tuesday he intends to complete a plan to win wage concessions from labor groups before he departs but offered no specific timetable. Creighton, who came on board United as interim CEO in October after his predecessor was ousted by angry labor unions, last week said he would step down once his replacement was found. That process is expected to take six months or more, according to industry experts, as an external search is conducted. United, the second-largest U.S. airline and a unit of UAL Corp. (UAL), is losing billions of dollars as demand for air travel, especially high-priced business tickets, remains weak. It wants to cut labor costs, which are about 40 percent of total expenses, to help turn itself around. The airline also hopes to have a good idea of where it stands on the wage concessions talks as the looming deadline to file for federal loan guarantees approaches, executives said in an interview at the Elk Grove Village, Illinois headquarters. The airline this spring agreed to industry-leading contracts for two different bargaining units of the International Association of Machinists. One contract has been ratified by rank-and-file mechanics, and another is up for a vote on Friday by ramp and reservation workers. The IAM, United's largest union, has said it will not participate in concession talks until all contracts are in place. And even then, its willingness to entertain such requests is questionable. Pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have agreed to talk to management but so far, flight attendants say no deal. Employees excluding flight attendants own 55 percent of United following a 1994 Employee Stock Ownership Plan. "We have to engage the IAM very quickly, and it's my feeling that I don't want to take 'No' for an answer from the flight attendants," Creighton said. THE POINT MEN "Jake and I are the point men on this recovery plan," he added, referring to Chief Financial Officer Jake Brace. Creighton and Brace declined to say when the airline would lay out specifics on the cuts they want. The capital markets are still available for financing at United if necessary, leaving the loan guarantee question as yet unanswered. Brace has said the airline may apply for the guarantees to private sector loans that were part of the landmark bailout act passed after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. But he has also has said United would prefer not to turn down such an avenue. Asked on Tuesday whether United would apply for the loan guarantees, Creighton, "We're maintaining a flexible position on that." Brace said: "We know that the deadline (for loan guarantee applications) as it stands right now is June 28. The effective deadline is actually going to be a couple of weeks ahead of that, because we want to have enough time to get an application in and have a little give and take with the (Airline Transportation Stabilization) board should we decide to go that way. So we're really targeting something closer to the middle of June." UAL reported a first-quarter net loss of $510 million on top of a record $2.1 billion net loss in 2001 as air travel demand remains below year-ago levels. As of the first quarter, $5 million in cash was still going out the door every day than was coming in, and management wants all employees to give wage concessions to help the airline recover. Brace said the plan would not one-size-fits-all. "We obviously need to be mindful of how one group's discussions compare to the other group's discussions. We are not saying, 'Here is the plan, sign on the dotted line.' We are trying to work through each group's individual issues--the challenges that they need addressed." ©2002 Reuters Limited.