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NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines(NYSE:LUV - news), the No. 7 U.S. airline, is the strongest financially among all U.S. carriers, which have been severely hit by last week's attacks on U.S. landmarks, according to credit rating service Standard & Poor's.
``Southwest has a large cash position, and it has the strongest balance sheet by far,'' Betsey Snyder, an S&P analyst, said in a conference call.
The company, a huge customer of Boeing Co.(NYSE:BA - news), could get relief from Boeing in the form of payment deferral for aircraft purchases, she added.
Among all the airlines, Southwest also has the most of its routes back up and running, Snyder said.
Earlier Thursday, S&P cut credit and debt ratings for nine other U.S. airlines.
Those downgrades reflect the immediate costs of service, lower consumer confidence after air attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and an already grim outlook for the industry prior to the attacks, S&P said.
The downgrades came amid expectations that U.S. business and leisure travel will drop sharply as airline executives press for government aid to keep their companies solvent.
``Southwest has a large cash position, and it has the strongest balance sheet by far,'' Betsey Snyder, an S&P analyst, said in a conference call.
The company, a huge customer of Boeing Co.(NYSE:BA - news), could get relief from Boeing in the form of payment deferral for aircraft purchases, she added.
Among all the airlines, Southwest also has the most of its routes back up and running, Snyder said.
Earlier Thursday, S&P cut credit and debt ratings for nine other U.S. airlines.
Those downgrades reflect the immediate costs of service, lower consumer confidence after air attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and an already grim outlook for the industry prior to the attacks, S&P said.
The downgrades came amid expectations that U.S. business and leisure travel will drop sharply as airline executives press for government aid to keep their companies solvent.
