U.S. airlines to get $2.3 billion in cash reimbursements WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and bankrupt=20 United Airlines are each getting more than $300 million in cash for=20 reimbursed security costs, the government said Wednesday. The=20 Transportation Security Administration said it had notified 66 U.S.=20 airlines that their cash reimbursements were being electronically=20 transferred into their accounts. Federal law requires that the=20 disbursements be completed by Friday. Nine of the carriers, including all=20 the major airlines, signed agreements that limit compensation of top=20 executives as a condition of receiving the assistance. The aid was approved= =20 by Congress last month to help the industry shake its worst-ever downturn.= =20 Travel has been off sharply since the September 2001 hijack attacks, and=20 the slump worsened during the Iraq war. Lawmakers agreed to reimburse airlines $2.3 billion in security costs the=20 carriers had paid the government since February 2002. Much of that came=20 from a passenger security fee of up to $10 per round trip the industry was= =20 forced to absorb because tickets have been deeply discounted to attract=20 business. Congress agreed to suspend that fee between June 1 and Sept. 30=20 to save the airlines an additional $700 million. The fee helps pay for=20 airport security improvements mandated after the attacks. It is the second= =20 major aid program approved by Congress for the airlines since the attacks=20 on New York and Washington. The first was a $15 billion package of cash and= =20 loan assistance that was approved in late 2001. Under the new aid program,= =20 Delta will receive $390 million; American, $360.9 million; United, $300.2=20 million; US Airways , $216 million; Southwest Airlines $271 million;=20 Northwest Airlines $205 million, and Continental Airlines, $173 million. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************