United CEO pledges to work with labor on turnaround By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY The new CEO of troubled United Airlines reached out to the carrier's powerful labor unions Tuesday, but there remains a wide gulf between the size of cost cuts United wants and what labor is willing to give. Glenn Tilton, the former vice chairman of ChevronTexaco, was named Monday as United's chairman and CEO, weeks before the world's second-largest airline has said it might have to seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors. "I'm looking forward to working with all of you to find the right way to get this company moving forward again," Tilton said Tuesday in a taped message to workers. "One of my first jobs is to sit down with our unions to talk about the problems we share and get their help." But labor's plan is likely to look much different from the company's demand last week for $1.5 billion a year in labor cost cuts to help United qualify for a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee. Today, in a rare joint session, leaders of unions representing pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and others meet to discuss ways to cut costs and find financing to keep United out of bankruptcy. Employees own 55% of United. United, which has lost nearly $3 billion from the beginning of 2001 to the middle of this year, says it has been locked out of traditional capital markets since Sept. 11 and is facing an $875 million debt payment this fall that it might not be able to make. Union leaders have questioned whether the Bush administration is pushing an anti-labor agenda by demanding United make such deep cuts in labor costs to get the loan guarantee. "We know the application (for federal loan guarantees) has to be revised and that, minus a recovery plan, the capital markets are closed to us today," says Air Line Pilots Association head Paul Whiteford, who sits on United's board. "We just don't believe $1.5 billion is the correct target." Among other things, ALPA's financial consultants think United's revenue projections, which haven't been made public, are too pessimistic, he says, so they are developing their own. Other unions aren't convinced a government loan guarantee will be United's only option if cost cuts are negotiated. "This airline has a lot of assets it can leverage," says Jeff Zack, the flight attendants' spokesman. "We don't think employees giving up $9 billion over six years for a $2 billion loan makes sense. We're going to work on developing a plan. We don't think United has done everything it could to improve its situation." The meeting convenes today amid intense pressure. United has set a mid-September deadline to revise its loan application or pursue a bankruptcy filing. Now, rumors of new employee layoffs are on union Web sites. Mechanics in one maintenance center were told by a facility manager to expect hundreds of layoff notices in September unless concessions are made. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (MBH) http://maracasbay.com/ (Maracas Bay Hotel) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************