US airlines could slash 70,000 more jobs and annual losses would reach US$10.7 billion if there is a war against Iraq, the biggest domestic carriers said on Tuesday.
The Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, released the outlook in a report on industry finances and called again for government help with fuel costs and relief from taxes.
Shares of AMR Corp, the parent of American Airlines, dropped 34 percent, while Delta Airlines fell 22 percent.
Air travel has plunged since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompting UAL Corp's United Airlines and US Airways Group to seek protection from their creditors in bankruptcy court.
The airline group said that conflict with Iraq lasting 90 days would cost US$4 billion in lost revenue, on top of the US$6.7 billion the industry is already expecting to lose this year.
The airlines said they would have to cut costs aggressively, resulting in 70,000 job losses.
"The nation's air carriers will continue to do all we can, but we fear that the consequences of this war will be severe," James May, president and chief executive of the air transport group, told a news conference.
May said that war could prompt more bankruptcies or force financially fragile carriers into liquidation.
The airlines said they want relief from security taxes and fees and other government mandates they said has cost them US$4 billion in lost revenue since Sept. 11, 2001. They also want the government to sell strategic oil stocks to reduce fuel prices.
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