Attacks leave airlines in need of assistance AMERICA IN CRISIS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 19, 2001- 9 FAA soliciting plans for 'secure cockpits' The Washington Post WASHINGTON - After a meeting with nine airline chief executives and members of the White House's economic and budget advisers, Transportation Sec- retary Norman Mineta said yesterday he hoped to have a bailout package for the nation's airlines ready for Congress by early next week. But Mineta said it was too premature to say what assistance that package would include, how much or how the funds will be disbursed. "So now our big task is tak- ing the data that we have received from the airline industry and to then sculpt it out into a legislative package," Mineta said. Airline executives said as a result of last week's terrorist attacks and unprece- dented three-day grounding of all flights, several carriers could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection in a matter of days without financial assistance from the gov- ernment. The executives are seeking around $24 billion in aid, loan guarantees and tax relief. "In the last three of the four days of last week, we had almost no revenue, and we would anticipate that in the next few days revenue would probably be operating at no more than 40 to 50 percent of normal," said Leo Mullin, Delta chief executive. "And with the heavy fixed costs in this industry, there is no way in the long term that our industry could survive with those levels." Armed with a six-page outline, the air- line executives met for two hours this morning at the Transportation Department before heading over to the White House. Mineta said he was later scheduled to meet with members of the House and Sen- ate appropriation and authorizing commit- tees. A breakdown of what the executives were asking for included: Grants, jet fuel rebates and loan guaran- tees: $11.2 billion. Retain all ticket and cargo waybill taxes from Sept. 1, 2001 through Aug. 31, 2002: $7 billion. Provide an immediate cash infusion to compensate the industry for revenue loss- es and security cost increases: $5 billion. Repeal the 4.4-cent gallon federal jet fuel tax for Sept. 1, 20001 through Aug. 31, 2002: $800 million. Mullin said the $24 billion is an esti- mate that could change. "We are working on plans with the administration that could in fact yield that much, but perhaps less, and we all hope it will be less," he AP PTO Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, with Delta Air Lines Chairman Leo Mullin, discusses a package of relief for the nation's major airlines after last week's terrorism. said. Mineta declined to say if one of the provisions of the package would be a relief from any liability actions United and American Airlines would incur because it was their planes that were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. Without relief, United and American would be responsible for the victims and the property at the sites. Wall Street ana- lysts have said if United and American were held liable, it would immediately force them into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON - Replacing today's flim- sy airline cockpit doors with sturdier models capable of thwarting hijackers has emerged as a top priority of an emergency advisory panel to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, according to government and industry offi- cials. The Federal Aviation Administration has begun soliciting plans for a "secure cockpit" from engineering design companies. Boeing, the world's largest airplane manufacturer, has assigned its engineers to study the issue. But unless the FAA is ready to mandate stiffer doors, door frames, hinges and locks, the indus- try may balk at the cost, which one executive estimated at $50,000 per aircraft. Hardened cockpit doors are just about the only physical change to jetliners now under discussion that might deter the sorts of hijackings that cul- minated in last Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Otherwise, atten- tion is focused on procedural changes such as passenger screening and baggage checks. In the past, security improvements have lan- guished after the initial shock of an attack faded away. After the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing, for example, the FAA approved bomb-resistant cargo containers. But since the agency did not require the use of the super-strong containers, only a few international carriers obtained them, among them Israel's El Al. "The underbelly of the airplane was never fully fixed," said William M. Baker, former assis- tant FBI director in charge of criminal investiga- tions at the time of the Pan Am 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland. This time, however, Mineta and his aides have all but promised action. And the powerful Air Line Pilots Association last week dropped its opposition to stronger door locks. "Unauthorized cockpit access is our primary concern," ALPA spokesman John Mazor said yesterday. "Our first priority is getting stronger, more secure designs approved and in place." In the past, ALPA had argued that strong locks could hamper pilots' quick escape in a crash and turn the cockpit into a coffin. Until the FAA approves a completely redesigned door, Mazor said the union was endorsing the temporary use of deadbolt locks that cannot be opened from the outside. It is unclear whether the airlines will install such locks, since Mineta has promised a decision on permanent changes in a matter of weeks. Along with new doors would come more restrictive procedures for the crew. Access to the cockpit by flight attendants would be limited and pilots would not be able to walk into the passen- ger cabin at will.