STORM2K

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040913/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airways_bankruptcy&cid=509&ncid=716

ARLINGTON, Va. - US Airways Group Inc., the nation's seventh largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday for the second time in two years. The company's president vowed to continue restructuring the airline into a low-cost carrier during the bankruptcy process.


"We have come too far and accomplished too much to simply stop the process and not succeed," said Bruce Lakefield, US Airways' president and chief executive. "A restructured US Airways with low costs and low fares will be a dynamic competitor."


US Airways said customers would notice no operational changes as a result of the bankruptcy and that it will seek permission to continue its frequent flyer program.


The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria came after US Airways was unable to obtain $800 million in annual cost cuts from its workers' unions that the airline said it needed to stay afloat.


The company's return to bankruptcy comes as several of its larger rivals also confront the need to repair weak finances. UAL Corp.'s United Airlines has been operating under bankruptcy for nearly two years, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines was on the brink of a filing 18 months ago and Delta Air Lines Inc. warned that it might seek similar protection soon if it cannot trim its labor costs.