US Airways has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to allow the company to maintain its services and complete its restructuring programme.
This is the first such filing by a major carrier since the September 11th attacks triggered a financial crisis in the airline industry.
The sixth-largest US airline is trying to win labour and other cost concessions to obtain a federal governmentguarantee for private sector loans. It said the filing, which was not unexpected, would allow it to complete restructuring and continue flights without interruption.
US Airways, which has 35,000 employees, filed in US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, listing assets of $7.81 billion and liabilities of $7.83 billion. It said it aimed to emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2003.
Its first bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for Monday.