United CEO says business travelers top priority CHICAGO (AP) =97 United Airlines' main focus as it tried to get out of=20 bankruptcy is on business travelers =97 the latest sign the world's No. 2=20 carrier doesn't intend to become like Southwest or JetBlue. Six months into= =20 Chapter 11 reorganization, United is still tinkering with a business plan=20 that it must submit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by Oct. 6. While creating a=20 separate low-fare carrier remains part of the plan, officials are making it= =20 clear that the discount arm is no longer its key element. In a message to=20 employees taped Monday, CEO Glenn Tilton told employees the No. 1 priority= =20 is to "focus on our core customers, the premium business segment," as well= =20 as to strengthen United's brand and increase revenues. He also wants to=20 improve United's route network to "profitably serve a full range of=20 customers," while maintaining a competitive cost structure and keeping=20 operations running smoothly. Unlike in past such messages, there was no=20 specific mention of the low-fare carrier that was intended to handle as=20 many as a third of United's daily flights. United spokesmen declined to=20 comment about it Tuesday. But company officials have acknowledged the size= =20 of the carrier are being scaled back significantly from the major role=20 envisioned earlier this spring =97 a plan which was widely criticized by=20 industry experts as unlikely to succeed. Revised recommendations are to be drawn up by the end of this month. United= =20 executives presented the latest business plan to meetings of the board of=20 directors and creditors committee last week. Tilton said it was well=20 received. United has continued to lose money heavily in bankruptcy =97 a= fact=20 likely to count against it when it reapplies for a federal loan guarantee=20 that was denied by the government last December. Tilton maintained that the= =20 Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based airline narrowed the revenue gap between it=20 and other carriers substantially in May, and added that "June is looking=20 encouraging." The airline's creditors, who have declined public comment on= =20 United's financial status, require that it have a positive cash flow by=20 October after more than three years of heavy losses. But based on United's= =20 solid recent progress, including new contracts cutting labor costs by $15=20 billion over six years, they are unlikely to step in if United misses any=20 of its required monthly financial benchmarks this summer. *************************************************** 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.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************