US Airways files for $900 million loan guarantee Monday June 10, 6:24 PM EDT (Recasts lead; adds byline, detail throughout, analyst comments; changes dateline, previous Arlington, Va.) By Julie MacIntosh NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc. (U <http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?time=0&symbol_search_text=U> ) asked the government on Monday to guarantee $900 million of a $1 billion loan, which the struggling carrier said it would use to restructure operations and help its business which took a huge financial hit after the Sept. 11 attacks. The Arlington, Virginia-based air carrier, the nation's sixth-largest, reported a $2.1 billion loss last year and its financial stability deteriorated even further as it reported a $269 million shortfall in the first quarter of this year. The carrier filed an application for the loan guarantee with the government's Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB), which was created following the Sept. 11 attacks to aid the struggling airline industry. <http://ae.excite.com/adclick/CID=000034127d9372bc00000000/acc_random=14 51903487/site=excite.reuters/area=money.news/aamsz=336x280> US Airways was hit particularly hard after Sept. 11 as traffic plunged on many of its routes, which are concentrated on the East Coast. The airline had said over the past few weeks that it was preparing to ask the government to back its loans through a loan guarantee, which it claims is a cornerstone of its restructuring plan. US Airways has said it may have to file for bankruptcy if the guarantee is not granted. Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg said the timing and amount of Arlington, Virginia-based US Airways' loan guarantee application were not surprising. "The amount that they're asking for is in line with what they've put out with their plan," Linenberg said. The actual filing of US Airways' application on Monday may be more a perfunctory move than anything else, he added, because the carrier is still mired in negotiations with its labor unions, suppliers and lenders in an attempt to cut more than $1.3 billion in annual costs. US Airways has said that slashing costs is necessary to make it an attractive candidate for the loan guarantee. America West Airlines, a unit of America West Holdings Corp. (AWA <http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?time=0&symbol_search_text=AWA> ), is the only air carrier that has applied for and received federal loan guarantees, which are part of a a $10 billion program created by the federal government to boost the airline industry after demand for air travel dropped precipitously following the Sept. 11 attacks. After revising its application several times, promising to keep labor costs in check, and granting the government warrants to buy up to one-third of the company's stock, No. 8 U.S. carrier America West was approved for a $380 million loan guarantee. Applications from both Vanguard Airlines Inc. (VNGD). and Frontier Flying Service were recently rejected when the government said it was not confident either carrier could repay the loans.