Air Canada says to transform into 'leaner' airline TORONTO (Reuters) =97 Air Canada plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection= =20 as a "leaner, more efficient, lower-cost airline," the company said=20 Tuesday. The airline, Canada's largest and the world's 11th biggest, was=20 granted court protection from creditors Tuesday until May 1, 2003. The=20 order, combined with C$1.05 billion ($700 million) of debtor-in-possession= =20 financing from GE Capital Canada, will allow it to keep flying while it=20 restructures almost C$13 billion ($8.4 billion) in debt. The company is=20 also filing under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. At the top of the agenda for=20 Air Canada's transformation is a reduction in labor costs. The airline also= =20 wants to trim its fleet and cover its pension plan shortfall. Air Canada,=20 which has about 31,000 unionized employees, is looking to cut its labor=20 costs by C$650 million annually, or 32%, but faces resistance from the= unions. The company said it will now ask its creditors and the court to determine=20 the value of its labor cuts. "Labor costs are very material to this=20 restructuring," company lawyer Sean Dunphy told the Toronto court. In a=20 release, the company said employees would continue to be paid on schedule=20 during the restructuring process. The overhaul also calls for eliminating=20 jets such as Boeing 747-400s, Boeing 737-200s and BAE Systems' BAE 146s,=20 while increasing its Bombardier CRJ-50 fleet and adding 90-seat regional=20 jets. Air Canada added it would look into way to revamp its employee=20 pension plan, saying it would consider freezing the accrual of benefits for= =20 a fixed period of time. The value of its pension plans has deteriorated=20 over the past two years due to declining interest rates and a slump in the= =20 stock market, it said. As part of its corporate restructuring, Air Canada=20 plans to create a new holding company, Air Canada Enterprises, which would= =20 directly own all the equity interest in Air Canada's existing subsidiaries,= =20 including Aeroplan, Jazz, Zip and Air Canada Capital. Air Canada would keep= =20 its domestic and international airline business. The company said Calvin=20 Rovinescu has been appointed chief restructuring officer. Air Canada is=20 scheduled to report back to the Toronto bankruptcy court on April 22. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************