America West Airlines weathers war, still losing money PHOENIX (AP) =97 America West Airlines officials say the low-cost carrier is= =20 performing better than many of its counterparts amid the industry's most=20 severe downturn ever. "We still continue to lose significant amounts of=20 money," said Scott Kirby, America West's executive vice president for sales= =20 and marketing. "But relative to the performance of other airlines, we're=20 performing better than we have in our entire history." Tempe-based America= =20 West has posted losses for nine straight quarters, but the airline seems to= =20 be weathering the war with Iraq relatively well. Immediately after the war= =20 began, the airline said it saw "a huge dip" in bookings, but they have=20 since bounced back, Kirby said. He said the airline has been helped by its= =20 low dependence on international travel and a fare restructuring that cut=20 prices on lucrative last-minute fares for business travelers. America West= =20 only serves destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. "For=20 airlines like America West, the war's just an annoyance," said Michael=20 Boyd, an analyst with The Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo. America West Airlines is the nation's eighth largest carrier with 330 daily= =20 departures out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Its other hub=20 is in Las Vegas, where it is the second-busiest carrier at McCarran=20 International Airport. Because the airline is primarily a domestic airline,= =20 it has not seen bookings drop from the flulike illness first detected in=20 Asia. Other airlines have reported a reduction in travelers worried about=20 the breakout of severe acute respiratory syndrome. "America West is not=20 dependent on trans-Atlanic or Pacific traffic, so they're really not=20 affected," Boyd said. But when the war ends, Boyd said the industry can=20 expect a continued decline in international travel. And other analysts=20 estimate America West will continue to lose money at least through the end= =20 of the year. Pushed to the brink of bankruptcy shortly after the Sept. 11=20 terrorist attacks, America West was the only major carrier to get approval= =20 for a $429 million loan guarantee as part of the government's industry=20 bailout. Since then, it has improved passenger loads and on-time arrivals=20 and reduced the number of lost bags and customer complaints. But continually grim economic conditions and increased security costs are=20 forcing America West Airlines to cut yearly costs by $100 million through=20 management and administrative layoffs and reductions in purchases from=20 vendors, the airline said. In its most profitable year, America West made a= =20 $108 million dollars. But new federally mandated security measures are=20 costing the airline an additional $200 million a year, Kirby said. "The=20 cost of security that airlines have been asked to absorb is really national= =20 defense. It's not a sustainable situation," Kirby said. No layoffs or pay=20 cuts among pilots, flight attendants or airport gate agents are planned.=20 Officials have said the airline hopes to reduce management, professional=20 and administrative payrolls by 10 percent, which will result in an=20 undetermined number of layoffs. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************