=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/12/09/s= tate2244EST0145.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, December 9, 2002 (AP) California passengers glad United flights aren't canceled RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer (12-09) 05:33 PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Some passengers in California were just glad their flights weren't canceled as news of United Airlines' impending bankruptcy filing spread. Suzan Bond, of Chicago, checked in for a flight home late Sunday at the United counter at San Francisco International Airport. She had been keeping tabs of United's troubles through news accounts and said bankruptcy would hasten her search for a new, more dependable carrier. "I think they're unstable, and I don't want to take a chance," she said. She feared that future United flight schedules would be canceled or altered due to scaled back service that United might offer after filing for bankruptcy. United Airlines filed for federal bankruptcy court protection early Mond= ay after more than two years of growing losses and a rejection last week of a plea for a federal loan guarantee. Dave and Pam Henson, who were at the Los Angeles International Airport en route to their home in Fresno after spending a week in Mexico said they had been watching the news since they recently booked their flight. They were glad their flight wasn't canceled and hoped the bankruptcy wouldn't have long-term repercussions because United is the main carrier at the Fresno Airport. "Bankruptcy might not really be that bad a thing for them," Dave Henson said. "Once they don't have to pay all their bills and can focus on paying their people they could do better." United frequent flier Kimberly Owen, at Los Angeles International Airpor= t, said she wants to continue to give her business to the carrier, and expressed faith in its future. "I think people should not be afraid," she said. "Because it's a huge company, it's not going to go under. It would be bad for the country." Several employees outside the United terminal in Los Angeles said they were told not to speak to reporters, but nevertheless said they hadn't been told about the upcoming filing and had been receiving information on the company's financial status through the news. "It's poor management from prior CEOs," said one employee, who like othe= rs said he had been told not to speak publicly about United's troubles. More than a quarter of United's employees are based in California. United accounts for half the passenger traffic at San Francisco International Airport, and it provides service from small city airports to major hubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles Those smaller airports are worried they'll lose that essential service if the company cuts less-profitable routes. So far, there is no plan to do so, and the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based company has said it will keep flying all routes. At San Francisco International, the company employs almost 14,000 people. United employs more than 6,200 people, at Los Angeles International where it's the largest passenger carrier and supplies 8 percent of the airport's annual revenue with $39 million in landing fees and rentals. The Chicago-bound Bond seemed miffed that United has fallen so far. "It just makes me sad that it's not going to provide the jobs and the go= od service. I used to love United. It had amazing service, and I don't believe that it does anymore," Bond said. "I probably won't fly on United again." Jeremy Squires, another passenger flying to Chicago from San Francisco on United, said the downfall of the carrier was endemic of large companies in general. "It's just sort of the nature of business. They grow so big, they get to the point where they can't grow anymore, or management changes and it just dies," Squires said. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP