US Air Reservations, Gate Agents OK New Contract Thursday December 23, 1:10 PM EST McLEAN, Va. (AP)--Reservations and gate agents at US Airways approved a new contract Thursday that cuts pay by 13% and provides the airline some of the relief it says it needs to avoid imminent liquidation. The Communications Workers of America, which represents 6,000 passenger service employees at the bankrupt airline, said that 60% of members who cast ballots voted to approve the deal, which runs though 2011. Thursday's vote gives the airline ratified deals with two of its four major unions: the CWA and the pilots' union. It still needs ratified deals from its flight attendants and its machinists' union. CWA leaders had urged approval of the deal. They said the pay cuts, while steep, are much less than the 34% cuts initially sought by the airline. The contract cuts pay for most CWA employees by 13%, with top scale now at $18 an hour. Employees wouldn't receive pay raises until at least 2008. The new contract also cuts benefits and changes work rules. It also implements a profit sharing program, but US Airways has estimated that it will be at least 2008 before it could possibly turn any kind of substantial profit, even if it receives all the concessions it is seeking. US Airways Group Inc. (UAIRQ) has said it needs sharply lower labor costs immediately, or it will likely begin liquidation by mid-January, when its interim financing agreement with the federal government's Air Transportation Stabilization Board is set to expire. The airline had asked a bankruptcy judge to cancel the collective bargaining agreements with the CWA, the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Association of Machinists, if those unions don't reach voluntary agreements with the airline. The pilots' union and the smaller Transport Workers' Union had already ratified new deals. The flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement on a new deal, but union leadership is taking a neutral stance and isn't recommending approval. The results of their ratification vote will be announced Jan. 3. Negotiations with the machinists are continuing, but no deal has been reached. The union has said if it doesn't reach a deal, it will submit management's final offer to membership for a vote before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell rules on the airline's request to cancel the contracts. Mitchell is expected to issue his ruling on Jan. 6 or Jan. 7. The CWA, flight attendants and machinists have already had a temporary 21% pay cut imposed on them by Mitchell while negotiations have been taking place. The airline said it needed the cuts to conserve cash during bankruptcy. CWA officials said the new deal will take effect Jan. 1, replacing the 21% pay cuts that had been imposed by Mitchell. Roger EWROPS