US Airways cuts flights, sees bankruptcy exit NEW YORK (Reuters) =97 US Airways Group said Thursday it would cut about 4%= =20 of its flights, joining several major rivals in paring back schedules as=20 the Iraq war causes a steep falloff in travel. The No. 7 U.S. carrier said= =20 the cutbacks, which mostly affect off-peak flights, would not impede its=20 planned emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by Monday. No jobs= =20 will be lost from the cutbacks, which will last about one month and begin=20 next week, it said. "This is a short-term reduction. It's not affecting=20 jobs," a US Airways spokesman said. Before considering layoffs, "we (would)= =20 want to see what further impact the war has on our bookings." The cutbacks= =20 affect about 5% of US Airways' available seat miles. Domestic flight cuts=20 will be effective from April 2 to May 3. They will affect mostly evening=20 flights from Pittsburgh and Charlotte, North Carolina. US Airways Express=20 is also cutting flights. Transatlantic flight cuts will be effective from April 1 to April 30.=20 Flights from Pittsburgh to London's Gatwick Airport will be suspended, as=20 will four weekly flights between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt and two weekly=20 flights between Philadelphia and Amsterdam. "Because of the war in Iraq, we= =20 have adjusted our operation in a way that limits the impact to our=20 customers," B. Ben Baldanza, senior vice president of marketing and=20 planning, said in a press statement. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, US Airways= =20 has cut available seats by 28%, he said. In its annual report, also filed=20 Thursday, the Arlington, Va-based company said it was considering pay=20 deferrals for many of its workers, who numbered 37,100 as of Dec. 31. The=20 carrier said the war allows it to implement a 5% pay deferral for up to 18= =20 months for union, management and administrative employees. OTHER CARRIERS CUT BACK In the last week, most major U.S. carriers have curbed schedules,=20 particularly on international routes. Northwest Airlines and Continental=20 Airlines said they would cut a respective 4,900 and 1,200 jobs. Delta Air=20 Lines this month began a voluntary leave program in a bid to avoid forced=20 layoffs. The Air Transport Association, the airline trade group, Wednesday= =20 said passenger traffic dropped 10% last week, when the Iraq war began.=20 Domestic bookings for the next 60 to 90 days are down 20% and international= =20 flight reservations have plummeted 40%. Before it can emerge from Chapter=20 11, US Airways needs approval of a scaled-down pilot pension plan from the= =20 Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. and the U.S. bankruptcy court in=20 Alexandria, Virginia. A court hearing is set for Friday. "We are are on=20 target for emergence on Monday," the spokesman said. US Airways sought=20 protection from creditors in August. US Airways shares traded in Thursday=20 over-the-counter trading at about 10 cents, down less than one penny. (Additional reporting by Dan Burns.) *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************