S&P says United, American Airlines unchanged

Standard & Poor's said UAL Corp. and unit United Air Lines Inc.'s ratings are unchanged at D and American Airlines Inc.'s ratings are unchanged including its corporate credit at B- with a negative outlook in response to the ruling by a federal judge that allows lawsuits by the families of victims killed at the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to proceed against the companies.

United's and American's potential liability for damages relating to loss of life and property damage at the crash sites was capped at the airlines' then-existing insurance coverage under September 2001 federal airline legislation, S&P said.

Continued litigation will, however, entail some legal costs, management attention and possibly negative publicity, and, depending on the outcome, could set unfavorable legal precedents for the airline industry, already severely damaged by other effects of terrorist attacks, S&P said.

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