Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said on Tuesday he hoped to have an airline bailout plan ready by early next week and signaled that carriers could be reimbursed for losses related to the closure of U.S. air space after last week's disastrous hijackings. 
But the White House and Congress, which would have to approve any bailout, do not favor granting $7.8 billion in tax relief that major carriers have requested as part of a $24 billion plan. 
Speaking after a meeting at the White House with Bush economic and budget advisers and airline executives, Mineta said the administration had received the "essential" financial and other information from the industry to proceed with a bailout proposal. 
"President (George W.) Bush and his administration are committed to working closely with all industry members and with the Congress to help maintain the strength of our nation's aviation industry," Mineta said earlier in the day before another meeting with airline executives at his office. 
Last Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon grounded U.S. commercial aviation for two days, prompted costly new security steps, further drove down revenues and left many people afraid to fly. 
"The industry had been having financial difficulties even before this heinous terrorist event," Mineta said. "Those events have made the problem more acute." 
Delta Air Lines DAL.N chairman and chief executive Leo Mullin said the industry had almost no revenue in the last three or four days of last week and would probably take in no more than 40 percent to 50 percent of normal revenues in the next few days. 
An industry "white paper" being circulated on Capitol Hill said U.S. commercial airlines were expected to start filing for bankruptcy protection within days unless a bailout was imminent. The paper said many carriers would face the same plight within 90 days unless there was federal relief. 
U.S. carriers already have taken austerity measures and are expected to eliminate more than 100,000 jobs as a result of reduced demand, the industry has said. 
The position paper said that on Aug. 31, the aggregate industry cash balance was $9 billion. Airlines would have eaten through their cash reserves and would need to find $1.1 billion by November and $15 billion by the end of June 2002, the white paper showed. 
Mineta said final details of the bailout would have to be worked out with both houses of Congress and he hoped lawmakers would act quickly. 
While congressional leaders acknowledged the aviation industry was a cornerstone of U.S. economic viability, Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle told reporters lawmakers were prepared to act swiftly but would not rush. 
The South Dakota Democrat said they were not yet ready to settle on a figure for a final bailout. 
House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri said the most important thing "for all of us" was to "get back on airplanes and show our confidence in the safety of this system." 
While details of the rescue plan had to be hammered out, Mineta said there was "some recognition" airlines should be "made whole" for losses directly related to the attacks. 
The industry wants $5 billion in direct compensation for those losses. 
"What we do on the balance of the project, or the package, that is something we're going to have to look at," Mineta said. 
But a key Senate Republican said congressional leaders and White House officials told the airlines their request for $7.8 billion in temporary tax relief would not be part of a larger aid package. 
The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives hopes to pass an airline bailout this week, congressional sources said. 
Rep. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said the airlines would need to "essentially open the books" to show net losses from last week's grounding. 
Blunt said it might be wiser to proceed with a short-term measure and then have the option of revisiting the matter to see if "that was enough." 
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans told Reuters Tuesday that direct aid through loans was a possibility. 
