= American Trans Air gets conditional loan guarantee = = Thursday September 26, 6:26 PM EDT = WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - ATA Holdings Corp.(ATAH), parent of low-c= ost carrier American Trans Air Inc., received conditional approval Thursd= ay for a $148.5 million federal loan guarantee. The Air Transportation Stabilization Board, the entity set up after last = year's hijack attacks to help struggling carriers with credit assistance,= said the airline must amend its application to win final approval. Among other things, the government wants a greater stake in the carrier's= business than has been offered. The three-member board voted unanimously to grant conditional approval, s= aying the airline "demonstrated a reasonable assurance" that it will be a= ble to repay the loan according to the government's terms. The board has denied most of the applications it has received. The bigges= t carrier to apply for a loan guarantee is United Airlines, a unit of UAL= Corp. (UAL), which is seeking $1.8 billion in assistance. = =A92002 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS