United moves to shore up loan guarantee bid WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 United Airlines chief executive Glenn Tilton said= =20 Saturday he was firming up the carrier's $1.8 billion federal loan=20 guarantee bid around a plan that would rely on substantial cost savings and= =20 several strategies to boost revenue and capture business travel. Speaking=20 with reporters at an industry event, Tilton also said he would not be=20 pushed into setting a date for exiting Chapter 11 protection. He noted that= =20 a separate low-cost carrier remains an option but a potentially less=20 competitive one, since the company was unable to secure key labor=20 agreements it felt were necessary to maximize efficiency. "We have to find= =20 a competitive response that works for United with respect to low-cost=20 traffic, not necessarily low-cost carriers per se," Tilton said. Nevertheless, he said United is sharply focused on winning back premium=20 customers who have deserted big airlines in droves since mid-2001. "We're=20 going to make sure we continue to focus on the core of United's passengers= =20 =97 that is the business traveler." The company's retooled application for= =20 loan guarantee assistance would include $2.5 billion in labor concessions=20 and related work rule savings over the next six years; close to $700=20 million a year in savings from renegotiated aircraft leases and other=20 mortgages that are close to being finalized, and a new revenue outlook,=20 Tilton said. Still to be determined as part of United's recovery plan is=20 the amount of Chapter 11 exit financing and who will supply it, as well as= =20 the scope of a low-cost operation, and a final lineup of regional carriers.= =20 Tilton would not identify parties that have expressed interest in providing= =20 exit financing. United plans to submit a business plan to creditors and lenders in the=20 early part of June and will then file a formal restructuring proposal with= =20 the U.S. bankruptcy court in Chicago later this year =97 probably in the=20 early fall. Tilton said he is working closely with the government's Air=20 Transportation Stabilization Board to replace those aspects of the=20 company's original loan guarantee bid =97 rejected as inadequate in December= =20 =97 with new figures. While promoting the economic merits of exiting=20 bankruptcy at the start of the spring travel season next year, Tilton would= =20 not yield on whether United would emerge at that time. "We want to exit=20 Chapter 11 after we are sure there is precious little value left on the=20 table," he said. "My plan is to sweep the table of all the benefits=20 available to us rather than be expedient." United reported last week that=20 it sustained a $375 million net loss for April as demand weakened because=20 of the war in Iraq and the SARS virus that has hurt Asia travel. That=20 followed a $1.3 billion loss in the first quarter. *************************************************** 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.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************