United postpones motion to cancel union contracts = = = = Thursday December 26, 5:48 PM EST = CHICAGO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - UAL Corp.'s (UAL) United Airlines said late o= n Thursday it would delay until Friday filing court papers that would all= ow the airline to terminate labor contracts with its unions. The carrier said the delay was in response to requests from its unions du= e to ongoing discussions with membership. The world's No. 2 airline, which filed the largest bankruptcy in aviation= history on Dec. 9, has said it needs to trim labor costs by $2.4 billion= a year in order to meet the terms of its financing agreements. A filing under Section 1113 of Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code wou= ld give the airline adequate time for court hearings on the issue before = a Feb. 15 cost-cutting deadline set forth by UAL's lenders. UAL has access to $800 million of debtor-in-possession, or DIP, financing= to help it operate while in bankruptcy. But it can not tap into an addit= ional $700 million without achieving specific cash flow targets which req= uire deeper cost cuts. = =A92002 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS