US Airways sees damage from Phila. gate proposal Thursday June 13, 7:37 PM EDT NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc. (U <http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?time=0&symbol_search_text=U> ) said on Thursday that a proposal by a Philadelphia official to limit the number of gates an airline may use at that city's airport would hamper its ability to create its third largest "hub" and "irreparably damage" its business. A member of Philadelphia's city council has proposed a measure that would revoke preferential or exclusive use by any airline of more than 40 percent of Philadelphia International Airport's 103 gates. Arlington, Virginia-based US Airways said it currently has preferential or exclusive use of 65 gates at the airport, about 63 percent of the airport's total. US Airways runs nearly 500 daily departures out of the airport, and the carrier and its affiliates transported about two-thirds of the airport's passengers last year. Pittsburgh and Charlotte are US Airways' two largest hubs. <http://ae.excite.com/adclick/CID=000033f27d9372bc00000000/acc_random=93 21462030/site=excite.reuters/area=money.news/aamsz=336x280> The airline was hit hard by a drop in travel on the East Coast and the temporary closure of Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport after Sept. 11, and has said it might file for bankruptcy if it cannot secure $1 billion in loans backed mostly by the government and convince its employees to accept lower wages. "If this amendment to the existing ordinance is enacted, it would severely restrict US Airways' ability to maintain and continue to develop Philadelphia as a premier domestic and international gateway," the airline said in a statement. US Airways said it currently has a lease agreement with the city of Philadelphia that grants it use of the gates through 2006. But the carrier would probably be forced to renegotiate all its leases, including those in Philadelphia, if it filed for bankruptcy, US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said on Thursday.