United Air plans $2 bn cost cuts
Chicago: United Airlines has said needs to cut annual costs by a further $2 billion to return to profitability and attract external financing to avoid bankruptcy.

The cuts, about $700 million higher than earlier estimates, come on the back of continued losses due tohigh fuel prices and concerns that it was poised to breach covenants on its debtor-in-possession financing.

The cuts form part of a new business plan it is finalising with its creditors committee.

The airline said one third of the cuts would come from terminating its heavily underfunded pension plans, posing one of the first big challenges for the Bush administration in its second term amid concerns about the impact on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

The remaining cuts will be split equally between wage and work rule changes and non-labour cost reductions.

United's quarterly net loss was $274 million
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Citigroup's $3bn payout to WorldCom investors cleared
New York: Citigroup's $2.6bn settlement with WorldCom investors, who lost billions when an accounting scandal plunged the telecom company into bankruptcy protection was cleared by a federal judge.

With this, Citigroup has resolved one of the biggest class action lawsuits resulting from a string of corporate scandals over recent years. The world's largest financial services company, which had set aside reserves for the settlement, did not admit to any wrongdoing.
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