This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ IN AMERICA - NOMINATED FOR 6 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS IN AMERICA has audiences across the country moved by its emotional power. This Holiday season, share the experience of this extraordinary film with everyone you are thankful to have in your life. Ebert & Roeper give IN AMERICA "Two Thumbs Way Up!" Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \----------------------------------------------------------/ UAL Said to Be Near to Gaining $2 Billion in Exit Financing December 10, 2003 By MICHELINE MAYNARD and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH United Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 protection a year ago, is close to securing $2 billion in exit financing, a crucial component in its emergence from bankruptcy, people briefed on the plan said yesterday. United also plans to resubmit its application for federal loan guarantees as soon as next week, these people said, even though it has not resolved financing issues involving its employee pension plans, the single biggest stumbling block on its path toward emerging from bankruptcy. The Senate, meanwhile, failed to act on legislation yesterday that would have enabled the airline to stretch out hundreds of millions of dollars in pension contributions that it must otherwise make in 2004. United officials, including its chief executive, Glenn F. Tilton, had lobbied hard for the measure. United, a unit of the UAL Corporation, filed for bankruptcy last December, hit hard by the decline in travel after the September 2001 terror attacks; two United aircraft were lost in the attacks. The airline hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of next year, a target it moved back earlier this year, after previously saying it could emerge as soon as this month. Under the exit financing proposal, J. P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup would jointly underwrite $2 billion in loans. The bulk of the loan package, which has not been completed, would be guaranteed by the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board, which was created after the attacks to shore up the industry. United was forced to seek bankruptcy protection after the board rejected its original application for $1.8 billion in loan guarantees last year, saying its business plan was far too optimistic. Under its revised application, United would seek only $1.6 billion in federal loan guarantees, a person briefed on the proposal said. The remaining $400 million would be provided by one of its banks. United's latest business plan is based on conservative assumptions for future revenue and profitability, according to people involved in discussions about it. Last year, the stabilization board ordered US Airways to resolve issues involving its pilots' pension plan before it would approve $900 million in loan guarantees. US Airways and its pilots agreed to replace it with a less-generous version, after US Airways won permission from a federal bankruptcy court to cancel the plan. United chose to go back to the federal loan board before it had found a solution to its pension issue, because it was confident that the matter would be resolved, people close to the situation said. At least two of United's unions said, however, that they had not been briefed on the company's plans by last night. One union official expressed skepticism about its chances. "It's wishful thinking," he said. ''There's no way they can get $1.6 billion in federal loan guarantees without getting that pension plan fixed." United's pension problems intensify next year because of a rule requiring companies with large, lasting pension deficits to make a series of catch-up contributions. Earlier this year, United and its pilots' union began to lobby for legislation that would suspend the rule. They succeeded in winning bipartisan support for such a measure in the Senate, but ran into staunch opposition from Bush administration officials who contended that suspending the rule would allow the weakest pension plans to become even weaker. A small number of senators withheld their support from the measure on the same thinking. "It's a very bad idea to allow companies to skip payments to their pension plans," said one of them, Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican from Illinois, where United is based. "I don't want taxpayers to be stuck with the tab." After a day of last-minute wrangling the pension bill was derailed yesterday, taking a more general pension-relief measure down with it. The Senate agreed to take up the pension issue when it returns in late January, saying it could address both the broader pension measure and the special relief United is seeking. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/10/business/10united.html?ex=1072064946&ei=1&en=d8ec3031f919a022 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company