United reports $375 million net loss for April CHICAGO (AP) =97 United Airlines said in a bankruptcy court filing Wednesday= =20 that it lost $375 million in April, when the war in Iraq and fallout from=20 SARS combined to wallop the air travel business. The world's second-largest= =20 carrier said it had met its lenders' financial requirements for the month=20 and ended April with more than $1 billion in restricted cash =97 back at=20 prewar levels. Chief financial officer Jake Brace cautioned, however, that= =20 "the revenue environment continues to be challenging." United's financial= =20 outlook has improved this month, with labor costs dramatically reduced in=20 contracts that took effect May 1, the war over and the consequences of SARS= =20 on Asian travel having decreased. The airline has restored 162 flights for= =20 the summer travel season, and Brace reiterated that it is "encouraged" by=20 bookings. "We have stayed on track with our efforts to reduce our cost=20 structure significantly and we continue to move our business forward," he= said. But while officials of the airline express confidence that United also will= =20 meet its lenders' May 31 benchmark, it must make dramatic improvement to=20 get back to positive cash-flow by the end of October as required. United,=20 the largest carrier at Denver International Airport, reported a loss from=20 operations of $297 million in April. United's creditors also have grown=20 impatient with its failure to disclose more details of how it plans to=20 return to profitability, although it has until Oct. 6 to file a=20 reorganization plan in federal bankruptcy court. John Tague, United's newly= =20 appointed executive vice president for customer initiatives, said the=20 airline is now turning its full attention toward how to boost revenue after= =20 having restructured many of its costs. United, which filed for Chapter 11=20 bankruptcy in December, lost an industry-worst $1.34 billion in the first=20 quarter of 2003. United's stock, which was delisted by the New York Stock=20 Exchange earlier this year, fell 10 cents to $1.82 Wednesday on the=20 over-the-counter market. *************************************************** 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/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************