By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – U.S. Airways officials say the airline's losses got worse in the fourth quarter of 2004. But the company still says cost-cutting means it's now better positioned to compete with low-fare airlines. Company officials say that cost cutting and traffic gains just could not make up for higher fuel prices and low revenue. The Retirement Systems of Alabama is the airline's biggest stockholder. The carrier is operating under bankruptcy protection. It cut costs in the fourth quarter by 14 percent to less than nine centers per available seat mile, excluding fuel. But the company did post a loss of $236 million for the period ending December 31. That's compared with an almost $100 million loss in the year-ago period.