By Julie MacIntosh NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - United Airlines, the second largest U.S. carrier, will apply for federal loan guarantees this month if it can reach agreements with its various employee groups to cut labor costs, United's chief executive said on Wednesday. Jack Creighton, chief executive at UAL Corp. (UAL) unit United Airlines, said at an investment conference in New York on Wednesday that he would continue to meet with employees at many of the United's biggest domestic operations to push for their cooperation in slashing wage and benefit costs. "Whether or not the loan guarantees are forthcoming, the survival of United Airlines is not in doubt," Creighton added. US Airways Group Inc., (U) the sixth-largest U.S. airline, filed an application with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) on Monday asking the government to back $900 million of a $1 billion loan. A federal bailout program created after the Sept. 11 attacks offers air carriers the chance to ask for federal credit assistance, but requires that they present a viable business plan and file their applications by June 28. America West Holdings (AWA) unit America West Airlines, the only airline to successfully petition the government for a loan guarantee to this point, secured $600 million in concessions from its employees and vendors and surrendered warrants for up to one-third of its stock before its application was approved. United Airlines spokesman Chris Brathwaite said the carrier needs to know where it stands on potential concessions with its employees before it makes a move to file an application. United has said that it would need to file for the loan guarantees by mid-June, but Brathwaite would not elaborate on Wednesday as to whether United has set up a more specific timeline for its decision. "The truth is that a decision has not been made," Brathwaite said. United's unionized pilots said on Tuesday that they were close to cutting a concessionary deal, but a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents about 9,000 United pilots, would not identify the critical issues involved. A spokesman for United's machinists said there was little to report on its negotiations with the airline. The airline industry's biggest cost is its labor. Arlington, Virginia-based US Airways -- which is still negotiating with its unions, suppliers and lenders to try to secure $1.3 billion in cost reductions -- has said bankruptcy may be its only option if it doesn't push through concessions and receive the government loan guarantee. ©2002 Reuters Limited.