General Electric is doing all it can to keep the lights on at US Airways.

	Online Graphic See a graphic that shows GE's exposure in the U.S. airline industry

The $152 billion maker of light bulbs, refrigerators and the "We bring good things to life" ads, GE entered US Airways' second bankruptcy last fall as the airline's largest creditor. It holds the keys to more than half -- 150 -- of US Airways' fleet and $2.9 billion in leases and loans on aircraft and engines.

Instead of yanking the plug, GE gave US Airways the freedom to cut costs and reduce debt. It leased the carrier up to 31 new planes and took back 25 older models. It also established cost-cutting and restructuring milestones that US Airways must meet to keep GE's support.

Without GE, US Airways would not be flying today. But, some wonder, is that a good thing?

Industry observers argue that GE's aid is actually preventing a full-fledged recovery of the airline industry by keeping weaker carriers such as US Airways aloft. If ailing companies are not allowed to collapse, they argue, a glut of seats will continue to push down fares, revenues and stock prices.

US Airways Watch US Airways and Independence Air both announced temporary fare sales yesterday, hoping to gain customers as the spring travel season heats up. US Airways, the dominant carrier at Pittsburgh International Airport, is offering discounts for travel to Florida starting at $98 round trip. A round-trip flight from Pittsburgh to Miami was advertised yesterday at $198. Tickets must be purchased by tomorrow and travel must be completed by June 15. The sale at Independence Air, which also serves Pittsburgh International, covers travel from April 25 through Aug. 31, with prices starting as low as $29 one way on flights from Washington Dulles International Airport to cities in Florida. A Washington, D.C.-Pittsburgh flight starts as low as $39 each way. Speaking of low fares, US Airways found a new low last weekend with round-trip tickets selling for less than $2. Unfortunately -- for customers-- the superlow pricing was a mistake borne by a bug in US Airways' computer system. The airline corrected the mistake after a few hours, but not before some customers were able to take advantage. The airline does not know how many people cashed in. Beginning Sept. 1, USA3000 Airlines is adding three flights per week from Pittsburgh to Orlando, Fla. Prices start at $69 one way.

Local airline analyst Bill Lauer likens GE to a "drug dealer" who keeps his customers alive only so they will come back for more. "Arguably, it interferes with the normal market forces, the Darwinian process which would have resulted in a natural selection against US Airways," Lauer said.

Of course, self-interest is at work. Because it leases so many planes to so many carriers, "It might be argued it is in General Electric's interest that the greatest number of industry participants survive," though not necessarily prosper, Lauer said.

Others argue that GE's power as a creditor has fundamentally altered the pattern of industry downturns. It currently leases more than 1,300 planes to 200 customers around the world. Its next-largest rival, International Lease Finance, is hundreds of planes behind.

In the last six months, GE has intervened three times to keep airlines from liquidating or from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and because of GE's help, no major carrier has gone out of business since the 9/11 attacks despite more than $30 billion in losses for the industry.

Compare that record to the late 1980s and early '90s, when big names such as Pan Am, Braniff and Eastern all collapsed amid turmoil. GE, as an aircraft financier, did not exist then.

The company launched an aircraft-leasing arm in 1993 after purchasing the assets of Irish firm GPA. Greater demand for air travel created greater demand for aircraft, allowing GE to ride the wave of competition that followed the deregulation of the industry and the massive expansion in the '90s.

A decade ago, "There was no organization with the power or the interest in preventing the disintegration of Pan Am or Eastern," said UBS airline analyst Robert Ashcroft, in a conference call this month. GE represents a "safety net that did not exist before."

GE is not the only financier acting to prop up the industry. The federal government is playing a larger role during this downturn, too, pledging as much as $5 billion after the 9/11 attacks and backing a loan package that got US Airways out of its first bankruptcy in 2003.

But while the federal government has slowed its support, even turning down a loan package for United Airlines last year, GE has stepped in by helping Delta Air Lines and Independence Air avoid bankruptcy with restructuring deals and providing much-needed breathing room for US Airways as it tries to make it out of bankruptcy this summer.

GE said it was only trying to help its clients. "The thing that may get lost in all of this," said GE spokesman Eric Jones, "is you have got to have airline customers to be in business, and in general we like to help our customers. It also has to make sense for us."

The same criticism of GE as an enabler of troubled carriers has been lodged at the federal government for its aid to airlines -- including US Airways -- after the 9/11 attacks.

Discount giant Southwest Airlines lumped government and aircraft vendors together last week, saying in a letter to shareholders that such assistance works against "the free enterprise 'law' of supply and demand. ... Not allowing high-cost carriers to cease operations enables the continuing sale of ever more seat miles at less than the cost of producing them."

Or, as analyst Ashcroft said, "Had US Airways gone out of business by now, the rest of the airlines would likely be better off than they are."

Just last week, GE agreed to give US Airways until the end of the month to file a reorganization plan, extending a previous deadline by two weeks.

It was the third time GE had agreed to an extension, but the time awarded was shorter than in months past, prompting Lauer to wonder if GE was closer to pulling the plug.

"At what point does GE make the determination that it is better off as a liquidator rather than an enabler?" he asked.