Europe airlines seen next after U.S. job cuts deepen LONDON (Reuters) =97 Airlines in Europe are expected to deepen job and= flight=20 cuts this week after U.S. carriers made savings and industry officials said= =20 demand weakened by war could boost losses by $10 billion. A wave of=20 cutbacks worldwide underscores sector worries as war in Iraq threatens to=20 worsen a record slowdown and push recovery beyond 2004. Swiss International= =20 Air Lines is set to announce details of its 2002 losses on Tuesday and some= =20 analysts expect it may need to add to 700 planned job cuts to avoid the=20 fate of bankrupt forerunner Swissair. "The biggest overcapacity is in=20 Europe which leads to increased price and margin pressure," Swiss Chief=20 Executive Andre Dose told reporters last month. Airline shares were mostly= =20 lower in early Monday trade in Europe, where British Airways and Dutch=20 carrier KLM have stepped up cutbacks already. AMR, parent of the world's=20 largest carrier, American Airlines, surged 36% to $2.38 on Friday to lead=20 gains by top U.S. carriers. Despite recent bullish gains on hopes of a=20 brief war, carriers risk tougher business conditions including possible=20 credit rating downgrades. Standard & Poor's last week underscored continued risk of higher jet fuel=20 prices despite recent easing. Moody's Investors Service said on Friday it=20 may cut ratings on about $1 billion in British Airways debt citing=20 travellers' concerns about security because of the war. "British Airways's= =20 North Atlantic routes, a main profit generator for the group, are=20 specifically affected by safety and confidence issues," the ratings agency= =20 said in a statement. BA this month boosted cost-cutting aiming to save an=20 extra 450 million pounds ($703 million) a year by March 2005. KLM has=20 announced among Europe's biggest cuts in flights, aiming to scale back=20 service by 7% from last year. Officials from the two carriers dismissed a=20 UK newspaper report on Sunday which said a planned trip to Amsterdam by BA= =20 Chief Executive Rod Eddington might be linked to merger talks. Cost-saving schedule cutbacks in Europe mirror those announced by most top= =20 U.S. carriers and in Asia by Singapore Airlines as airlines brace for lower= =20 demand. Global airlines could face an additional $10 billion in losses from= =20 war in Iraq, the International Air Transport Association said on Saturday.= =20 A rise in jet fuel, security and insurance costs since 2001 has hurt=20 carriers and the impact of slowing growth has been exacerbated by low-fare= =20 carriers such as Southwest Airlines in the United States and easyJet in=20 Europe grabbing market share. Job cuts deepened on Friday when Northwest=20 said it would have to lay off 4,900 staff, some 11% of its total, to keep=20 costs in hand. It joined United, Continental, Air Canada and Australia's=20 Qantas Airways in announcing job cuts or temporary furloughs of employees.= =20 Some cuts stemmed from previous plans but United and Northwest both cited=20 the war as a major factor. (Additional reporting by Kathy Fieweger and=20 Karen Padley in Chicago and Nieck Ammerlaan in Zurich) *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************