There were no indications so far that Bermuda would be affected by the current financial problems besetting American Airlines and US Airways, the companies said yesterday.

US Airways filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, while American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, announced yesterday it is cutting 7,000 jobs and retiring 74 planes.

Yesterday, both airlines said they had no information that the cost-cutting measures will have any impact on Bermuda.

"There has been no effect so far. Right now it is domestic, and hopefully it will stay that way," said American Airlines Bermuda manager Judith Butterfield.

American flies two daily flights from Bermuda to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, and one daily flight to Boston.

US Airways will cut back on its flights from Bermuda to the US next month and in November, but the company said the decisions were taken almost three months ago as the airline moves to its winter season and had nothing to do with the current bankruptcy filing.

In the summer season, the airline flies four flights a day to Charlotte, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington, and New York's La Guardia.

From mid-September, this will be reduced to single daily flights to Philadelphia and Washington.

And mid-November, it will be further reduced to a daily flight to Philadelphia and a Saturday flight to Washington.

At a press conference yesterday, Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said he had been given an assurance by US Airways that the schedule would be followed as promised.

He said: "The official communication that the Government has received from US Airways has indicated that US Airways had entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy", which in the US is a legal way of restructuring the company.

He added: "We have been assured by the president of the company that no flights will be altered from the original schedule."

Dr. Brown said he was in touch with all of the carriers to and from Bermuda in a bid to ensure the country continued to be serviced by the airlines.

However, he said he wanted people on the Island to understand that Bermuda was just a small piece of the carrier's overall schedule.

"Our goal is still to increase the service to and from Bermuda and hopefully to cause a lowering of the fares," said the minister.

Asked whether the time was ripe for Bermuda to launch its own airline, Dr. Brown said there were already Bermudians who had voiced an interest in doing just that.

He added: "It's a long and tedious process, but we are not standing in the way of anyone who wishes to take a hard look at it."