U.S. approves US Airways loan guarantee WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 US Airways won government approval Tuesday for a=20 $900 million loan guarantee that is critical to the carrier's bid to=20 reorganize under bankruptcy protection. The airline must meet several new=20 conditions before the Air Transportation Stabilization Board will activate= =20 the guarantee to underpin $1 billion in private financing. The conditions=20 include finalizing concession deals, obtaining final bankruptcy court=20 approval of its reorganization proposal, and regulatory and judicial=20 clearance of its plan to eliminate its pilot's union retirement plan. The=20 three-member board, which voted unanimously to approve the application,=20 also said it reserved the right to decline the assistance if the airline's= =20 financial prospects worsen or its ability to repay the loan diminishes. The= =20 board's executive director, Daniel Montgomery, said in a letter to the=20 airline that it had presented a business plan that "reasonably positions"=20 the company to "meet the challenges and risks of this industry and to=20 achieve financial stability over the term of the proposed loan." The US=20 Airways bid was conditionally approved last July just weeks before the=20 Arlington, Virginia-based carrier filed for bankruptcy protection. At that time, the board demanded substantial cost cuts and a stake in the=20 No. 7 U.S. airline. As part of reorganization, the stabilization board=20 accepted US Airways' plan to give the government warrants to buy 10% of the= =20 company. US Airways also plans to cut annual costs by $1.8 billion. US=20 Airways plans to emerge from Chapter 11 protection by March 31. "We are=20 gratified by the (government) action today, and its vote of confidence in=20 our company's restructuring and prospects for long-term success," David=20 Siegel, the airline's president and chief executive, said in a statement.=20 David Bronner, chief executive of the airline's lead investor, Retirement=20 Systems of Alabama, said the new conditions were anticipated. "Now we just= =20 have to go through it and make sure that we meet all of the guidelines,"=20 Bronner said. The stabilization board was set up after the 2001 hijack=20 attacks to help financially struggling airlines with loan guarantees. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.boogsie.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************