By Brent Kininmont TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - Security is so tight after the September 11 attacks that another such assault is unlikely, but the way back for airlines battered by the subsequent slump in travel will be long and hard, a leading U.S. industry executive said on Friday. American Airlines was hit harder than most by the attacks when hijackers infiltrated the cockpits of two of its planes and slammed them into a World Trade Center tower and the Pentagon. A third plane, of United Airlines, was crashed into the second World Trade Center tower. "With the amount of security we have in the aviation system today, the likelihood of a terrorist choosing aviation as the venue for a future attack is very low," CEO Don Carty told reporters in Tokyo. "As you compare security across various potential venues the airline industry is enormously well secured versus other possible points of attack." The U.S. government recently said that more attacks on the United States were highly likely, based on signs picked up by security officials that an al Qaeda strike may be in the works. Most major U.S. airlines racked up record-breaking losses in 2001 after the attacks threw the industry, already smarting from a souring economy, into a tailspin. Travel demand initially dropped by half and still has not recovered to pre-attack levels. "From a financial perspective, the situation we're mired in is more severe than anything we've seen -- at least since deregulation a quarter century ago," Carty told a luncheon held by the Japan branch of the American Chamber of Commerce. "And as a result, the road back is likely to be long and steep." The top eight U.S. airlines recorded a $2.46 billion loss in the first quarter, on top of about $9 billion in 2001. AMR Corp. (AMR), parent of American Airlines, reported a first-quarter net loss of $575 million in April, on top of a record loss of $798 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. AMR forecast a narrower second-quarter loss but did not give a specific number, saying only that the rate of recovery would be about the same as from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter. GUNS LAST RESORT Carty was in Japan to meet Isao Kaneko, president of alliance partner Japan Airlines (9201), and to announce a new service between Tokyo and Los Angeles due to start on April 1, 2003. Japan Airlines will code-share on the route. The daily service will bring to five the number of U.S. gateways -- along with New York, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Jose -- that the airline flies direct to from Japan. Asia as a destination held up relatively well in the aftermath of the attacks, benefiting from travellers seeking alternative destinations to the United States out of safety fears. Despite heavier screening of passengers, American Airline's pilots and those of other carriers have come out in support of the carrying of hand guns in cockpits as a last line of defence against potential hijackers. The Bush administration recently said it would not allow commercial pilots to carry firearms. Carty said he did not oppose the introduction of handguns, but thought there were other more important areas of security that could be tightened despite the improved vigilance, such as the securing of the cockpit door. "After all, what we really want to do is not have our pilots in any kind of conflict with any passenger. We'd rather have them protecting the airplane and the passengers of the airplane by staying in the cockpit secure." ©2002 Reuters Limited.