Airlines reinforce cockpit doors before deadline NEW YORK (Reuters) =97 Airlines including UAL's United Airlines and Delta= Air=20 Lines said Tuesday they have finished installing bulletproof cockpit doors,= =20 a day before the Federal Aviation Administration's deadline requiring=20 stronger entrances. The FAA has required all cockpit doors and framing on=20 about 7,000 domestic aircraft to be replaced with a tougher access system,= =20 a reaction to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that used hijacked planes to=20 crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All international=20 airlines servicing U.S. cities must also comply by that date. The cost of=20 the upgrades has been another blow to airlines, already struggling with=20 high labor expenses and flier cancellations amid fears of attacks and war.= =20 Carriers have lost some $30 billion, forcing United Airlines and US Airways= =20 into bankruptcy. However, US Airways was able to emerge from bankruptcy on= =20 March 31. Boeing Co has said the cost of a reinforced cockpit door kit=20 ranges from $26,000 to $40,000, depending on whether the aircraft is=20 narrow-bodied or wide-bodied. As of March 28, Airbus had delivered about=20 1,800 door kits worldwide to airlines affected by the regulations,=20 including about 560 to U.S. operators, Airbus said. Depending on aircraft=20 type and carrier specifications, a door kit costs between $23,000 and= $55,000. UNITED FIXES 552 DOORS United said it has strengthened the doors on all 552 active planes, at a=20 cost of more than 80,000 hours and $16 million worth of parts kits. The=20 doors have electronic locks, reinforced hinges and keypad entry codes. "In= =20 a matter of months, United's engineers, pilots and mechanics worked with=20 our vendors to help design and test new, more secure doors," said Captain=20 Hank Krakowski, United vice president of safety, security and quality=20 assurance, in a statement. Delta, the No. 2 airlines in terms of passengers, took 10 months to install= =20 798 reinforced cockpit doors at a cost of about $15 million, according to=20 the company Tuesday. Continental Airlines, the world's seventh-largest carrier, has worked since= =20 October to modify the doors of 362 jets, it said in a release. Air Canada also said it has finished installing stronger doors on its more= =20 than 200 aircraft in service. Northwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said Monday in= =20 a memo that the company would be done with door reinforcement in time for=20 the Wednesday deadline, according to spokeswoman Mary Stanik *************************************************** 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.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************