Lawmaker waits for White House signal on airline aid WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 A key Republican lawmaker said Thursday he was=20 reviewing possible aid to U.S. airlines and waiting for a White House=20 signal on if and when Congress should mitigate their expected losses from=20 the Iraq war. With the biggest carriers saying they could face up to $4=20 billion in losses from a prolonged conflict, Florida Republican Rep. John=20 Mica said he was examining options for assistance. These include reopening= =20 a loan guarantee program that was initially established to help airlines=20 recoup losses after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks. But Mica,=20 chairman of the House transportation panel's aviation subcommittee, said he= =20 was waiting for the White House and more senior Republican congressional=20 leaders to decide on a course. "I get my direction from higher authorities= =20 and leadership, when the White House and leadership are ready to move," he= =20 told a news conference on an aviation security issue. Two senior Senate=20 Republicans, John McCain of Arizona and Trent Lott of Mississippi, wrote to= =20 the White House earlier this week asking whether the Bush administration=20 planned to offer an aid plan. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said=20 the administration would be ready to move quickly to help the airlines if=20 necessary, but he offered no timetable or proposals. Big U.S. carriers said last week that any Iraq conflict lasting a maximum=20 of 90 days could produce $4 billion in losses, push the weakest carriers=20 into bankruptcy or liquidation, and cost 70,000 jobs. They have proposed=20 several options in lobbying Congress and the administration in recent=20 weeks. Airlines want the government to assume more aviation security=20 expenses, guarantee long-term high-risk liability insurance, and provide=20 some relief from soaring fuel costs. Don Carty, the chairman and chief=20 executive of American Airlines, said the industry's message appears to=20 resonating with policy makers. "We're beginning to hear more from=20 Washington," Carty told the airline's employees in Fort Worth Thursday.=20 Carty said the lobbying campaign is picking up momentum and said there was= =20 a chance the government will step in if the Iraq crisis drags on. An=20 opportunity could come in the next few days, when the administration is=20 expected to propose an emergency spending bill for Iraq war expenses. But a= =20 White House official declined to say Thursday whether that measure would=20 include airline aid. "We've talked with the airlines. Of course we'll continue to do that. We=20 recognize the issues they face. We're listening to the airlines. We=20 understand what their concerns are and we are studying the situation," the= =20 official said. Mica told reporters he might try to get a separate airline=20 security provision into the emergency spending bill =97 a proposal that the= =20 government pay to equip U.S. commercial aircraft with defenses against=20 shoulder-fired missiles. As for airline relief, he said he was examining=20 fuel taxes; the possibility of making war risk insurance permanent; and=20 reimbursing airlines for other post-Sept. 11 mandates like strengthening=20 cockpit doors. Democratic Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota introduced=20 legislation on Wednesday that would provide between $4 billion and $5=20 billion in aid to the airlines, some of it right now. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************