US Airways shows $1.6 billion profit, thanks to government loan ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) ? A massive government-backed loan US Airways received when it emerged from bankruptcy allowed the airline to show a profit of $1.63 billion in the first three months of 2003, masking an operating loss of $282 million. On March 31, the final day of the quarter, US Airways emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and immediately received a $1 billion loan, of which $900 million is federally guaranteed. It also received a $240 million investment from the Retirement Systems of Alabama, a pension fund for government workers that is now the airline's largest shareholder. That money, and other one-time items associated with the bankruptcy organization, allowed the nation's seventh-largest airline to record a $1.63 billion profit on operating revenue of $1.53 billion. Excluding one-time items, the airline lost $282 million, compared to a $269 million loss on revenue of $1.71 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company said reduced demand from the war in Iraq, as well as a Presidents' Day weekend blizzard that paralyzed East Coast travel, hurt the company's bottom line. "While major combat operations in Iraq are now effectively over, we continue to see its lingering impact on the industry, and we anticipate a lengthy recovery of demand," company president and chief executive David Siegel said. Despite the losses, the company said its cost-cutting efforts in bankruptcy are beginning to show success, at least compared to the industry as a whole. US Airways reduced its cost per available seat mile, a key industry benchmark, by 11% quarter-to-quarter, to 10.37 cents per mile, excluding fuel. Revenue per available seat mile declined just 1.8%, while the industry saw a 3.9% decline in the quarter. Capacity shrank 13% quarter-to-quarter, while revenue passenger miles declined 14%. The company finished the quarter with $1.84 billion in cash, which it will use to purchase additional regional jets as part of its reorganization. The small regional jets, which carry about 50 passengers, will replace unpopular turboprop aircraft on some routes and more expensive mainline jets on others. Stock in the reorganized company has not yet been distributed, company spokesman David Castelveter said. *************************************************** 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.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************