Bankrupt airline to rehire 180 telephone staff DENVER (AP) =97 United Airlines plans to rehire 180 workers to handle a= surge=20 in telephone calls for new reservations and changes in existing ones. The=20 average number of daily calls has ballooned to more than 300,000 from about= =20 150,000, Chicago-based United told employees in a taped message Monday. The= =20 number of callers is "unprecedented," the airline said. United, which is in= =20 bankruptcy protection, said the increased call volume is due to new fare=20 sales that have wooed fliers; customers calling to ask about its many=20 recent schedule changes; and passengers who sought to alter itineraries=20 because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome or the war in= =20 Iraq. United said it also has been fielding calls from members of its=20 frequent-flier program wanting to redeem miles because of concerns about=20 its future. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************