Pressured by the prospect of bankruptcy, US Airways Group Inc. proposed last-ditch cost-saving offers to its pilots and flight attendants unions yesterday.
The proposals would require the employees to work longer hours, more in line with those of low-cost carriers, in exchange for less-severe pay cuts.
The offers come as US Airways, which has 28,000 employees, faces a $110 million pension payment Wednesday. Without a last-minute agreement from its unions, the airline may file for bankruptcy protection before the Wednesday deadline to conserve its cash, analysts said.
"In bankruptcy, they could defer that payment," said Ray Neidl, an analyst with Calyon Securities Inc. "It would be up to the judge, who may decide to terminate the program."
US Airways has been meeting with bankruptcy attorneys and advisors for weeks as contract talks with its four unions have stagnated. Airline consultants -- and even Chairman David G. Bronner -- have warned that if the Arlington-based carrier files for bankruptcy protection, it has only a slim chance of emerging.
US Airways has said it needs $800 million in pay and benefit cuts from its workers by the end of the month, as part of its overall $1.5 billion restructuring initiative. Without the cuts, the airline said it would have to file for protection from its creditors for the second time in two years.
The airline's offer asks the pilots to fly about 10 hours more a month, increasing their time in the air to 95 hours from 85 hours. Their average pay would decline about 6.5 percent. The airline had sought a 16 percent to 30 percent pay cut without the additional hours.
US Airways also is asking flight attendants to fly 85 hours a month. Currently, they can choose work schedules of 55, 75, 85 or 105 hours a month.
In his weekly recorded message to employees, US Airways chief executive Bruce R. Lakefield said the new proposals would "keep salaries as close to current" pay as possible by increasing the pilots' and flight attendants' hours.
Lakefield said he received "hundreds" of e-mails from pilots willing to make "sacrifices in pay, work rules and benefits" in support of the carrier's need for reducing costs.
