United pilots tentatively OK pay cuts By Marilyn Adams and Dan Reed, USA TODAY United Airlines might have cleared a critical hurdle in its bankruptcy=20 reorganization Thursday when its pilots union tentatively agreed to about=20 $1 billion a year in pay cuts. That news came as knowledgeable people on=20 Wall Street said American Airlines might be forced to seek bankruptcy=20 protection next week if it can't get concession deals with its unions.=20 American has told all its labor unions it needs answers from them by=20 Monday. The six-year deal between United parent UAL and the Air Line Pilots= =20 Association's governing council now goes to pilots for a vote. UAL needs=20 the $1.1 billion a year in savings from the pilots, along with concessions= =20 by UAL's other unions, to emerge from bankruptcy protection. UAL says it=20 needs a total of $2.5 billion a year in labor savings. Meeting that target= =20 would help it satisfy the requirements of lenders that have lent UAL $1.5=20 billion so it can keep flying during bankruptcy. Talks with other unions=20 are continuing. "This breakthrough agreement is a significant step forward= =20 in making the hard changes necessary to reposition United to compete," CEO= =20 Glenn Tilton said. "Our pilots are to be highly commended." News from=20 American was less encouraging. At American, officials reached tentative=20 agreement Thursday with the bag handlers union on a deal that would save=20 about $300 million a year. But it still needs deals with its other unions to restructure out of court.= =20 American wants $1.8 billion in annual labor savings, including $660 million= =20 a year from pilots. Pilots union spokesman Gregg Overman said the union's=20 board will vote on a concessions package by Monday. If it votes no, or the= =20 savings aren't enough, American parent AMR could file within days. UAL is poised to ask bankruptcy court Monday to let it impose up to 18% in= =20 temporary pay cuts during the war, but it was unclear Thursday whether the= =20 agreement with the pilots might lead to a delay. In Congress Thursday,=20 behind-the-scenes talks were underway to get quick aid for airlines whose=20 costs and bookings have been hit by the war. A $3 billion package being=20 discussed would help cover costs of new security measures the government=20 ordered after the terrorist attacks. Backers of the proposal =97 including= =20 some top congressional leaders =97 favor tacking airline aid onto a=20 war-spending bill that Congress intends to approve before spring recess=20 starts April 11. But many members are reluctant to add measures that might= =20 slow down action on funds for the war. Executives from several major=20 airlines met Thursday with Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the House Democratic=20 whip. The executives told lawmakers that a Chapter 11 filing by American=20 would put pressure on other airlines to consider following. Contributing: Contributing: Kathy Kiely *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************