Delta CEO sees another rough year for U.S. airlines WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Leo Mullin said=20 Monday the U.S. airline industry faces another difficult year and may not=20 see a pickup in traffic for another year or more. Speaking to reporters at= =20 an industry conference, Mullin said the traffic picture has improved from=20 March and April troughs, but he added that it was too early to predict the= =20 pace of a recovery. "We're in for another extremely tough year here in the= =20 United States," he predicted. "It's mid 2004 to late 2004 before we really= =20 begin to see some uptick in traffic." March and April were particularly=20 tough months for the airline industry as the war in Iraq and the outbreak=20 of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, depressed air travel.=20 Atlanta-based Delta, the No. 3 U.S. carrier, posted a first-quarter net=20 loss of $466 million and has said it is looking to cut costs by $1.5=20 billion to $2 billion by 2005. Mullin, among the best paid airline=20 executives in 2002, in April said he would refuse about $9.1 million in=20 potential compensation after being criticized by Congress, unions and=20 shareholders for his pay. Airlines have been racing to reduce costs to=20 weather an industry downturn that left two big players =97 UAL's United=20 Airlines and US Airways Group =97 bankrupt. US Airways emerged from Chapter= =20 11 protection in March. "I think the very worst is over," Mullin said. "But= =20 I would not suggest anybody should presume that anything like a true uplift= =20 is on the way. There is still some time left." *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************