Airlines buckle up as British Airways speeds job cuts LONDON (Reuters) =97 War-weakened demand forced British Airways to bring=20 forward 3,000 job cuts on Wednesday as Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa=20 grounded planes and U.S. officials urged state aid for airlines. War in=20 Iraq is worsening a record slowdown for the sector, threatening to push=20 recovery beyond 2004. British Airways, already spurring Europe's most=20 aggressive restructuring drive, said it aims to complete 13,000 job cuts by= =20 September instead of next March. It will cut flights by 4% until the end of= =20 May. Lufthansa, which is looking to flexible working arrangement to cut=20 labour costs, said on Tuesday it would ground seven planes, or about 10% of= =20 its long-haul fleet. Lufthansa is also cutting flights to the United=20 States, South America and Japan, and said it would use smaller aircraft on= =20 some routes. It said cuts on German and European routes announced last=20 month had grounded 31 Lufthansa aircraft and 17 more operated by Lufthansa= =20 CityLine and regional partners. NORTH ATLANTIC KEY Middle East destinations have been the hardest hit as carriers around the=20 world cut services, though a trickle of airlines have started resuming some= =20 flights, including those to Tel Aviv. Worst for airline revenues in Europe= =20 and the United States is a fall in demand on lucrative North Atlantic=20 routes, just as it was during and after the 1991 Gulf war. "(These) have=20 been hit particularly badly by the slump in demand following the outbreak=20 of war in Iraq," Lufthansa said in a statement. British Airways's schedule= =20 cuts included a six-percent reduction on North Atlantic routes to the=20 United States and Canada. It placed all capital spending under review,=20 though Chief Financial Officer John Rishton told a conference call three=20 Airbus plane deliveries for the next financial year remained on track. The= =20 airline said it had seen little progress in selling older Boeing 747 jumbo= =20 jets in its fleet. "The second-hand market for aircraft remains soft," a spokesman said. U.S. AID PUSH U.S. airline shares rallied overnight after the leader of the U.S. Senate=20 predicted Congress would grant aid to ailing U.S. carriers. "I think it is likely that either in the supplemental (war funding request)= =20 or some other form, relief will be given to the aviation industry," said=20 Frist, a Tennessee Republican. Shares in American Airlines parent AMR rose= =20 8.65% to $2.26. A day earlier, American and other shares plunged after=20 President George W Bush's request for a $75 billion war budget did not=20 include aid for hard-hit U.S. airlines, three of which are under court=20 bankruptcy protection. The controversial aid has triggered debate in=20 Washington where industry executives backed by senior senators are lobbying= =20 for help. "I don't think this addresses (the question) 'Will they ever make= =20 money?' but at least they will survive," said Goldman Sachs analyst Glenn=20 Engel. Cost-cutting in Europe has lagged U.S. efforts but widened this week= =20 after Swiss International Air Lines slashed an aircraft order by more than= =20 $700 million. Most airlines have been loath to cut new plane orders,=20 focusing instead on reducing jobs and flights. Spurring the cuts are=20 slowing seat sales and rising costs, including insurance, security and jet= =20 fuel. Jet fuel prices have surged since November but were down $4 to $281 a= =20 tonne on Europe's benchmark cargo market on Wednesday morning. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************