United bookings improve, CFO says CHICAGO (AP) =97 Domestic and international bookings for United Airlines= have=20 steadily improved since the first signs that the Iraq war may be coming to= =20 a close, the chief financial officer of parent company UAL Corp. said=20 Wednesday. Jake Brace, speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a=20 bankruptcy-court hearing in Chicago, said that domestic bookings are now=20 more in line with capacity. International bookings also have shown some=20 improvement but are still down compared with last year due to travelers'=20 concerns about exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS,=20 particularly in Asia, he said. "Bookings overall are getting considerably=20 better," Brace said. He declined to give any specific figures. UAL earlier= =20 this month said it would reduce its flight schedule by 12% in May. The=20 company last month trimmed its April schedule by 8% and laid off an=20 undisclosed number of employees. Separately, UAL's Brace said the company=20 has been in constant contact with the lenders of its debtor-in-possession=20 loans regarding the company's operating performance. UAL remains in=20 compliance with the covenants on the loans, Brace said, though there are=20 some questions about what will happen to future revenue levels. UAL, based= =20 in Chicago, filed for federal bankruptcy protection in December. The=20 company last week secured labor concessions from all of its unions,=20 eliminating the need for a full trial in bankruptcy court that had been=20 scheduled for this week. The concessions, if accepted by each unions'=20 membership, would allow the company to cut more than $2.5 billion in annual= =20 labor costs through 2008. The Air Line Pilots Association approved their=20 part of the package on Friday. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************