U.S. airline industry reeling after attacks

U.S. airline industry reeling after attacks

WASHINGTON (AFP): The U.S. airline industry is reeling from
last week's attacks on New York and the Pentagon by hijacked
aircraft, with some aviation firms and analysts calling for
massive U.S. government aid to stave off bankruptcies.

Continental Airlines said Saturday it was laying off a fifth
of its workforce, about 12,000 people. Delta Airlines said Sunday
its capacity had been reduced by 20 percent as a result of the
disaster and may have to cut staff as well.

"Were this to go on for any extended time, without aid from
the federal government, then we would absolutely have to consider
employee reductions of that size as an option," said Delta
chairman Leo Mullin.

Airline executives who are to meet with Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta this week and lobby Congress for a
multibillion-dollar bailout stressed Sunday that aviation is "the
engine" of the U.S. economy.

"The traveling public has disappeared, and we need to be there
when they get back. Otherwise, there will be no commerce in this
country," Continental's chief executive Gordon Bethune said on
ABC television.

"The patient is dying very quickly," Bethune told the New York
Times on Saturday. "We are all going to be bankrupt before the
end of the year."

Vice President Dick Cheney said the White House was open to
the concept of financial assistance for the airline industry.

"We're very interested in finding ways to make certain that in
this particular instance, there is no permanent damage to our
civilian aircraft capacity," Cheney told NBC.

U.S. airline chiefs and Bush administration officials plan to
meet as early as Tuesday to discuss the aviation sector's
financial troubles, according to Transportation Department
spokesman Chet Lunner.

The House of Representatives is considering a legislative
proposal for a US$15 billion bail-out of the aviation industry,
including $2.5 billion in grants and $12.5 billion in loans.

John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce
Committee, said he would "do everything in my power to ensure
that Congress will act to stabilize the financial conditions of
the airlines as we begin to rebuild from this tragedy."

Most airports were open for business Sunday, with about two-
thirds of normal traffic. Washington's Reagan National Airport,
located close to the heart of the U.S. capital, remained closed.

Meanwhile, four of the biggest U.S. airlines -- American
Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest and Continental -- had
issued statements saying they were each reducing their long-term
flight schedules by 20 percent.

"The reduction is in direct response to the current and
anticipated adverse impact on air travel due to Tuesday's
terrorist attack," United said in its statement.

Domestic and international air travel through U.S. airports
was shut down for two days immediately after four aircraft -- two
from American Airlines and two from United -- were hijacked on
Tuesday and turned into lethal, fuel-laden missiles.

Two of the planes slammed into New York's World Trade Center,
causing the building to collapse and killing an estimated 5,000
people. Another smashed into the Pentagon, damaging the nerve
center of the country's military. The fourth crashed in western
Pennsylvania.

Although flights started resuming Thursday, many planes plying
domestic legs were largely empty, with passengers deserting the
skies out of fear.