Rival Air Carriers Closely Watch United's Employee-Ownership Plan

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AS United Airlines embarks on a historic employee-ownership plan, its rival air carriers may have to adopt aspects of the cost-cutting buyout to remain competitive, airline industry analysts say.

United shareholders must still endorse the plan, in which employees will trade $5 billion worth of wage and benefit reductions for a 53 percent share of the airline.

But if approved, the buyout promises such large operational savings for United that other major airlines will also have to find ways to radically slash costs, the experts say. United plans to use the savings from the buyout in part to build a low-cost subsidiary that would run its comparatively unprofitable …