United Air scraps war-related extra pay cuts CHICAGO (Reuters) =97 Bankrupt United Airlines said Thursday it sees no need= =20 to go through with temporary pay cuts it threatened last month amid war=20 jitters because bookings have picked up slightly and federal aid is about=20 to kick in. United, which filed the largest U.S. airline bankruptcy in=20 history in December along with parent UAL Corp., warned in March that it=20 would be forced to cut pay at least 9% temporarily for all workers if it=20 did not find relief from an added drop in travel because of the war in=20 Iraq. Those reductions would have been on top of temporary pay cuts set in= =20 January to satisfy tight monthly financial requirements set by lenders who= =20 provided crucial money for United's restructuring. "This (government)=20 relief measure, along with United's ongoing cost reduction efforts in=20 matching flight capacity to demand, has allowed the company to postpone the= =20 additional employee pay cuts in its Iraq war contingency plan," United said= =20 in a taped message to employees. May schedule cuts and unpaid leaves=20 announced Tuesday remain in place, United said. Unpaid leave, or authorized= =20 no-pay status, is not planned beyond May, it said. "The company also is=20 targeting a 5% cost reduction among salaried and management employees=20 through ... authorized no pay and management reduced scheduling," United= said. United has reached at least tentative long-term agreements with all of its= =20 union groups on wage and nonwage cuts under a plan to reduce labor costs by= =20 $2.56 billion per year. Pilots, flight dispatchers and meteorologists have= =20 ratified long-term cost cuts with United. Mechanics, ramp and customer=20 service workers, and flight attendants are expected to report ratification= =20 vote results on April 29. United did not indicate how much cash it expects= =20 to receive from the $3.5 billion government aid package for airlines signed= =20 into law by President George W. Bush Wednesday with funding for the war in= =20 Iraq. The plan includes $2.4 billion in cash reimbursements for security=20 costs, and suspension of passenger security fees from June 1 through Sept.= =20 30 valued at $520 million. An extension of insurance coverage totals about= =20 $600 million. United cut capacity by 8% and put a number of workers on=20 unpaid leave for April. On Tuesday, United extended April capacity cuts=20 through May, added nearly 4% to the total and planned more unpaid leaves=20 because demand remains depressed because of the Iraq war and SARS, or=20 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Union leaders for United's flight=20 attendants have told members that the airline's April cuts led to about=20 2,300 unpaid leaves and May cuts could add 1,875 more unpaid leaves. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************