Airline stocks rebound as investors eye quick war By Dan Reed, USA TODAY FORT WORTH =97 Airline stocks rebounded sharply Monday as investors, airline= =20 executives and employees waited to see how travelers will respond to signs= =20 of an imminent war with Iraq. Investors seemed to be betting that a quick=20 war could help the battered industry by eliminating uncertainty and=20 pessimism about airlines' financial prospects. Stocks of AMR, American=20 Airlines' parent, and Delta, closed up 7.9% and 6.7%, respectively. The=20 chief executives of both United and British Airways have said publicly that= =20 war could force them to scale back operations 10% to 20%. Other carriers=20 have been less specific, saying they'll make any cutback decisions after=20 they see how consumers respond. One possibility: doing nothing. Spokesmen=20 for several carriers said planes have been full as of late and are expected= =20 to remain that way for a month because of strong spring break and=20 Easter/Passover holiday demand and many deeply discounted fares. Meanwhile, negotiations intensified Monday between American Airlines and=20 its three unions for $1.8 billion a year in concessions that management=20 says it needs to avoid bankruptcy reorganization. American officials hope=20 to reach tentative deals with all three groups by the end of March. United,= =20 in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since December, asked the bankruptcy=20 court to abrogate its labor deals so it can achieve the cost savings=20 demanded by its bankruptcy lenders. The motion will be heard sometime in=20 April. A decision is not expected for 60 days. But negotiations toward=20 voluntary concessions will continue. One possible source of help for the=20 beleaguered airlines could be Congress. Rep James Oberstar, D.-Minn., is=20 expected to introduce a bill Wednesday that could reduce or eliminate=20 airport security fees and taxes, provide retraining and placement services= =20 for displaced workers, and possibly reopen the $10 billion loan guarantee=20 program for airlines enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Contributing: Marilyn Adams and Barbara De Lollis *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx 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.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************