USA Today published an erroneous article today that[BR]inaccurately stated the company's intentions regarding[BR]the size of the fleet. In response, Senior Vice[BR]President of Corporate Affairs Chris Chiames said:[BR][BR]Today's story is categorically wrong. The fact is[BR]that US Airways has a contractual commitment with its[BR]unions to maintain a fleet of no less than 245 jet[BR]aircraft.[BR][BR]We announced last month that we would retire 32[BR]aircraft, which would take our fleet from 311 to 279,[BR]well within the terms of our agreement with unions to[BR]maintain a minimum fleet size of 245.[BR][BR]Recently, the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Eastern[BR]District of Virginia released US Airways from lease[BR]and debt obligations on 57 aircraft already grounded[BR]after Sept. 11, as well as granted authority to US[BR]Airways to abandon or reject an additional 10 active[BR]and older Boeing aircraft. We have said repeatedly[BR]that that our goal is to reduce the fleet as little as[BR]possible to preserve as many jobs as possible, so[BR]while we have the ability to reduce the fleet to 245,[BR]we are working hard to make 279 work.[BR][BR]On Sept. 6, we asked the bankruptcy court for[BR]authority to abandon or reject a certain number of[BR]additional aircraft from a total pool of 150 aircraft,[BR]which represents a combination of mainline jets flown[BR]by US Airways and turbo-prop aircraft flown by the[BR]three wholly owned US Airways Express subsidiaries.[BR][BR]This is not a request to eliminate another 150[BR]aircraft from the fleet, and US Airways has no[BR]intention to do so. Rather, this is an effort to[BR]provide US Airways and the subsidiaries with the[BR]necessary flexibility in negotiating with lessors and[BR]lenders.[BR][BR]We made it very clear to the USA Today reporter that[BR]we intend to live up to our contractual obligations to[BR]our employees and not reduce our fleet size beyond[BR]245, and to suggest otherwise was irresponsible.[BR]