No federal aid for Air Canada: Collenette Last Updated Tue, 01 Apr 2003 22:50:12 OTTAWA - Transport Minister David Collenette said Air Canada turned down an= =20 offer of interim federal loan guarantees because it ended up not needing=20 Ottawa's help. Collenette confirmed reports that Ottawa had been prepared= =20 to offer a federal loan guarantee =96 reportedly worth at least $300 million= =20 =96 to the airline "subject to strict conditions." But he said Air Canada= =20 told his department Monday night that the loan guarantees would not be=20 necessary because the airline was able to get interim financing from=20 another lender. When Air Canada filed for creditor protection earlier in=20 the day, it revealed that it had obtained $700 million US=20 in "debtor-in-possession" financing from GE Capital. This type of=20 financing will allow it to keep flying. It puts GE Capital at the head of=20 the line in terms of creditor priorities. "It's not for us to interfere in= =20 this restructuring," Collenette said. Collenette had previously ruled out= =20 giving Air Canada a cash bailout. "We have to be fair to the industry. But= =20 we have to be fair to the taxpayers," Collenette said. "The government has= =20 always maintained that Air Canada, as a private company, must make its own= =20 business decisions." But Air Canada CEO Robert Milton said Air Canada, as=20 the only provider of scheduled cross-border service, faces a unique=20 problem. "There needs to be comprehension that you cannot operate in an=20 integrated North American market where on one side of the border there is=20 massive government s upport and other side, being Canada, there is none.?=20 Collenette dismissed calls from Milton for a further reduction in the fees= =20 Ottawa charges and collects directly or indirectly from air=20 passengers. Collenette pointed out that the $24 round-trip security charge= =20 implemented last year was rolled back to $14 earlier this year. Written by CBC News Online staff *************************************************** 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.ttsailing.org/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************