Airlines could get additional financial help from Congress By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY Congress seems poised to help the airline industry again, providing=20 war-risk insurance for another year and possibly reopening the=20 controversial loan guarantee program in the event of an Iraq war But=20 other requests that four airline CEOs put before the House Aviation=20 Subcommittee Tuesday probably won't be met, including elimination of the=20 tax added after the terrorist attacks to pay for increased security=20 measures. Committee members didn't hide their frustration with the airline= =20 industry, still struggling almost a year after Congress approved a $5=20 billion cash compensation package to help the companies recover from the=20 attacks and the $10 billion loan guarantee program, which expired in June.= =20 Listening to the industry's financial woes was d=E9j=E0 vu for Rep. James=20 Oberstar, D-Minn. He said that as a committee member, he heard the same=20 recitation of problems in 1981, 1993, 1995 and 2001. "Seems it's about=20 every few years," he said. "We might not have a lot to do if we didn't have= =20 financial problems in the industry." Delta CEO Leo Mullin suggested the government end the $2.50-a-segment=20 security tax which adds as much as $10 to a round-trip ticket because=20 airlines aren't able to raise fares enough to pass on the cost to=20 passengers. But subcommittee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., held out little=20 hope for that. "You're going to have to figure out a way to pass it on," he= =20 told the CEOs. "I just don't see the support for that in Congress." Mullin= =20 also said airlines need help paying for some of the costs of complying with= =20 post-Sept. 11 security mandates, such as reinforced cockpit doors,=20 first-class seats for air marshals and screening catering trucks. The=20 mandates will cost about $4 billion, or about 40% of the $7 billion the=20 industry is expected to lose this year, he said. The effects of having four airline CEOs pleading for help in Washington=20 rippled onto Wall Street. Shares of major airlines continued their slide,=20 spurred by fears of war and rising jet fuel prices. Shares of American fell= =20 almost 15% to $3.60, and United shares dropped 9% to $2.12. Delta shares=20 fell 11% to $10.06, and Northwest shares dropped nearly 3% to $7.06. Shares= =20 of some airlines are trading at 20-year lows, said American CEO Donald=20 Carty. He said survival has required airlines to borrow so much money that= =20 the average U.S. carrier today is 90% leveraged. The tales of woe spurred=20 one lawmaker to raise the specter of re-regulation. "We're seeing the final= =20 throes of a failing industry," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. "It's time=20 to question whether cutthroat deregulation is going to work." 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: (ReadyMix) http://www.readymix.co.tt/ (ReadyMix Cement Ltd) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************