CHICAGO -- United Airlines hopes to return to operating profit in 2004 through a financial restructuring in which around 10,000 jobs will be cut by 2004.

In a statement published Sunday, UAL's CEO Glenn Tilton outlined the measures the group will take as it seeks to avoid bankruptcy, notably via a bid to get U.S. federal authority guarantees for loans worth $1.8 billion, AFP reported.

The total number of employees in 2004 will be at around 74,000, compared with 100,000 before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Tilton said.

"Our plan is intended to restore United's financial health," he said.

"The plan aligns our costs and revenues, while building a platform for future growth," he said.

In addition to its anticipated full-year operating profit in 2004, UAL forecasts it will be able to start repaying loans guaranteed by federal authorities in 2005, and will have finished paying them in 2007, Tilton said.

The company anticipates annual savings of $2.5 billion of which $1.1 billion will be labor cost savings, and $1.4 billion savings such as reduced levels of investment, the statement added.

"An unprecedented agreement among United's employee groups to contribute $5.8 billions in employee cost savings over a five and one half year period" starting December 1, has also been struck, Tilton said. A code-sharing agreement with U.S. Airways is also expected to generate $200 million per year in revenues "once the benefits of the agreement are fully realized."