United says very little in face of new losses

By Dave Carpenter
Associated Press

CHICAGO — United Airlines said yesterday it is still pushing ahead with talks with its unions, lenders and suppliers in efforts to avoid a bankruptcy filing, although it cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.

The nation's No. 2 airline, which has said it needs substantial concessions to forestall filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this fall, but a brief update issued yesterday gave no details about the progress of those efforts.

The statement was made to announce postponement of its quarterly conference call with analysts tomorrow, the day it releases third-quarter results.

United said it would not yet be able to answer questions about the financial recovery plan, which is in progress. It has been largely silent on the status of talks with its labor groups, which have been under way since last month.

United's unions have agreed to provide $5 billion in cost cuts and savings over five years, but management has indicated that a higher total will be necessary to persuade the federal government to provide a much-needed $1.8 billion loan guarantee.

"United continues its vigorous pursuit of solutions to its current financial crisis on a number of important fronts," the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based airline said. "As it pursues these remedies, the company's first priority continues to be accomplishing a restructuring outside of the bankruptcy courts, although a Chapter 11 filing can't be ruled out."

It said it intends to file an updated business plan soon with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, making a "compelling" case for the loan guarantee as well as for United's plan to return to profitability.

United officials declined to comment beyond what was in the statement.

Analysts expect the carrier to report a quarterly loss of more than $500 million tomorrow. It had net losses of $851 million in the first half of 2002.