TEXAS PACIFIC GROUP, the US private equity firm, is poised to launch a rescue for United Airlines, the bankrupt carrier, with plans to oust the company’s chief executive and its bankers if it succeeds.

The company, which has a strong interest in the airlines sector, drew up the plans after approaches from United’s biggest pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions, whose members are growing restless with the rescue plans proposed by the current management.

A spokesman for Texas Pacific would not comment on its rescue plans, but sources said the proposals were under way and that further meetings would be held with the unions during the coming weeks.

Central to the Texas Pacific plan is the immediate replacement of Glenn Tilton, United’s chief executive, and other senior directors. Mr Tilton was appointed chief executive of UAL, United’s parent company, in September. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.

Texas Pacific would also seek more private investment and a new team of bankers to take over the $1.5 billion in financing that the company won as it went into bankruptcy protection.

The airline, although showing some signs of improvement, is still losing $12 million a day while the market for air travel in the US continues to decline.

A source close to Texas Pacific said: “The firm has not put a dollar number on this recovery plan yet. But at this stage it would entail some change in senior management and the replacement of the current financial arrangements.”

Mr Tilton has already outlined a proposal to cut costs by $2.56 billion a year for six years to put United on an even financial keel. He has also proposed launching a budget airline to tap into America’s new-found enthusiasm for no-frills air travel.

Texas Pacific would stick to the same cost-reduction principles, but would abandon the budget airline plan, the source said, as the company believes the US market for low-cost carriers is saturated. Texas Pacific fears that a new budget carrier would struggle to stay afloat amid competition from so many well-established rivals.The unions are also opposed to United launching a budget carrier because competition for pilots and flight attendants in such companies has driven wages much lower than those paid by full service carriers.

Instead, Texas Pacific’s preliminary plan would focus on business travel, which has dwindled across the world since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the global economic downturn began to bite.

Texas Pacific believes a new model designed specifically for business travel could reinvigorate the market. If the plan succeeds, the reborn United would be about 25 per cent smaller than the existing company, with more higher-fare business seats on fewer routes.

The United union members, who control 55 per cent of the company’s shares, want the help of Texas Pacific as they fear being forced into accepting lower wages and benefits if Mr Tilton’s plan succeeds.

United, the world’s second-largest airline, disclosed in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week that it lost $382.1 million in January alone. The company lost $5.3 billion during 2001 and 2002.